The Summit
by K.Frosch
Summary: The destiny that awaits Red. The legacy that is Blue. Follow Pokemon Trainer Red's journey through Indigo as he builds his team. Read Pokemon Trainer Blue's journal to shed light on the mysteries surrounding the nation of Indigo. The paths to the summit are many, but ultimately there is only space for one at the top.
1. Prologue: Hook, Line, and Sinker

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

PROLOGUE

Hook, Line, and Sinker:

 _This smell_ , thought Professor Samuel Oak, _I hate this smell_.

It was hard to blame him. Cinnabar Island did indeed have a unique scent, mostly due to its still active volcano. Though it was not just the sulfur, smoke, and mildew that made the smell; aside from Oak's own, this particular isle hosted the region's largest privately funded research facility, easily covering about a quarter of the entire usable landscape. Thus, the stink of various chemicals adding to the island's own natural acrid scent resulted in Oak's - and many other visitors' - hatred of the smell.

"Cinnabar is an acquired taste," Oak's friend, Elite Four member Blaine always said when the topic of his hometown arose. Well, even if true, Oak did not plan on staying long. He was invited by Dr. Ken Fuji, who claimed was on the verge of a breakthrough on his so called groundbreaking research. Problem was, Oak had no idea what Fuji was researching, and Fuji himself was not so keen on sharing unless they met face to face.

"Naturally I am quite positive of the outcome of my experiments," he had said. "But it is I believe - urg - common in our work to ask for a second, more, eeeh, senior opinion - an outside view if you would. And who better to ask than our beloved region's very own Pokemon Professor, right?" he had ended, chuckling.

Oak had really, really, really wanted to refuse. He believed he hated Fuji as much as he had the capacity of hating someone of his profession. He could not deny his brilliant mind, but in the rare instances they had met beforehand Oak had observed the man capable of mood swings and supporting an ego extremely sensitive to bruising. It would have been easy for Oak to hang up on him the minute he had called. But he hadn't - because of Blaine.

A few days prior to Fuji's call, Oak had received a message from his friend Blaine. " _Can't wait to return home. Too bad you couldn't join me. It would be great for you to take a break from lab work. cu xoxo._ " it read. Which worried Oak. Firstly, he knew his friend to be a workaholic and would never, ever even think of taking a trip to his hometown while busy with his Elite Four duties - not with the Championship Games being a week away. Secondly, he knew that Blaine would never seriously ask him for a trip to Cinnabar - Oak hated the place. And thirdly, a break from lab work? Oak could not help but smile. His friend might have asked a geodude to swim.

All this had only one logical explanation. Blaine had come up to something and suspected its initiators in Cinnabar - specifically in Cinnabar Labs, hence his jab at lab work. He would have gone himself, but him going might have alerted people - it was not common a league official of such high-ranking deserting post this close to the games. So, he had warned his best friend in code and asked him to investigate. After all, a researcher visiting Cinnabar Labs was hardly news, which made Oak the perfect undercover operative.

Oak was still thinking of the timing of Fuji's call as he landed in front of a huge gate atop which read "CINNABAR LABORATORIES". He had spent the days after Blaine's text trying to figure out a convenient excuse to visit a facility which he had seldom set foot upon before, when out of nowhere he was suddenly invited by its chief researcher. Oak naturally suspected more than Lady Luck's play here, but still went on with his initial plan.

"Thank you, Hermes," Oak muttered as he recalled his pidgeot to its ball. The great bird gave out a tired chirp before the red light swallowed it.

"Welcome Professor Oak, sir." One of the two guards in front of the gate addressed him. Oak took notice of a crossbow strapped to the other's back and the two machoke behind them. "I trust your journey was fine, sir?"

"With my age nothing seems to be fine." grunted Oak. The guard looked as if he did not know how to respond so Oak continued. "Your dear Doctor Ken Fuji is expecting me and I would not want to delay him any further. I think I am already slightly late."

"In a moment, sir. If you would be kind enough to provide identification, sir, and leave all present pokeballs with my colleague here I will immediately escort you, sir."

"Security seems to have increased," muttered Oak, eyebrows raised as he reached for his wallet and pokebelt.

"We try our best, sir," answered the second guard this time. "Yes sir. Thank you, sir. All seems clear sir. You may pass sir and have a pleasant evening sir."

 _A tad too late for the latter_ , Oak thought as he joined the first guard through the gate on way towards the complex. They walked a short distance until they reached a large tent like building, a sign in front of it reading "Block B". A third guard with a kadabra was waiting for them.

"Welcome, sir. I hope yo-"

"Yes yes, my flight was pleasant," Oak interrupted the guard. "Just take me to Ken already."

"Gladly, sir. If you would just take a moment, sir, and look into the kadabra's eyes we can-"

"You want to probe my mind?" Oak interrupted a second time in a low, deep voice. "My mind?"

The guard fidgeted in his place a little and Oak's escort looked slightly embarrassed.

"Sir, procedure demands-"

"We have to insist-"

Both guards were cut mid-sentence when the door opened from inside. A young man wearing the standard white lab coat stood before them, his eyes briefly meeting Oak's then quickly returning to the black dex he held in his hands. His badge read "Jason Proton - Intern".

"Doc Fuji is expecting you professor," Proton said lazily, his eyes still focused on whatever work he was doing on his pokedex. "He was concerned about your delay as timing is essential in his work. He sent me to watch for your landing but lucky me, now I don't have to walk all the way to the gate." Proton turned around and began walking in, but stopped shortly after he realized Oak was not following. A bit impatient, he looked back over his shoulder questioningly.

Oak was already angry with the guards and the last thing he wanted was attitude from an intern. Fuming, he was about to give the boy a piece of his mind, but the guard beat him to it. "The professor has to still go under mindspection. We can't let him in otherwise."

Proton's eyes raised and fixed themselves to the guard. He looked utterly bored when he spoke again. "So, you want me to tell Doctor Fuji that the entire reason Mr. Oak here not being able to make it to the experiment is that he, as the most brilliant mind of this century, naturally refused to be scoped by two morons who find the power to deny him entry because of some idiotic security protocol, which he wasn't even made aware of or asked to comply in when being invited here. Did I get it right?" Proton did not even wait for the guards' answer. "If you two have any complaints take it to Mr. Fuji. As for you professor, please follow me."

Oak could not help slightly grinning as he walked through the dumb stricken guards. Proton led him through a maze of corridors all surprisingly empty compared to Oak's last visit to this facility. Still, he made no remark about the lack of researchers, scholars, and assistants that should have normally been buzzing around at this hour and followed the intern silently.

Finally, they reached a door which Proton opened first and announced with a loud, yet still apathetic voice, "Professor Samuel Oak, sir."

Oak entered what he now realized was some sort of observation deck. Beneath was a small field of grass, and the ceiling had an opening through which moonlight shone. On the edge of the deck, leaning downwards was a small, thin man with a scowling face and a sharp nose atop which a pair of spectacles were placed. Oak walked next to him and also began glancing down towards the field.

"Ken."

"Samuel."

They acknowledged each other with a small nod. A slight pause followed, but then Oak resumed.

"So."

"So?"

"Yes, so. You ask me to fly here as swiftly as possible, full-on mysterious mode, giving no explanation whatsoever, repeating only the words hurry hurry hurry like an impatient infant. Well here I am Arceus damned, after a loooong flight which is never healthy in my age, and in this abandoned block. So get to it Ken. So?"

Fuji chuckled and glanced sideways towards Oak. "Temper tantrums are also unhealthy at your age Samuel. But I promise this will be worth it. Just- just bear with me a moment, here will you? I think it's almost about to - yes its beginning." He pointed with his finger down towards the middle of the field.

Oak followed his finger and saw a small movement in the grass. When he looked closely, he realized the movement came from a small, about to hatch pokeegg. Its shell rocked more violently, stopped for a moment, and then finally gave way and cracked. A purple, slimy head with whiskers poked out.

 _A rattata_ , thought Oak. These pokemon were almost always used in lab experiments, as they were easy to breed, fast to grow, and had remarkable learning capabilities. _Nothing unordinary with a rattata_ , he thought but wondered why Ken wanted him to see the exact moment it was hatched, or why he had not just let an already hatched rattata in the field.

"All will be understood soon," whispered Ken, still watching the rattata.

The rattata gave out a hungry cry and slowly started foraging its surroundings. The area was not that large, so after a quick tour it arrived at a spot where the moon light seemed to be heavily concentrated upon. Now Oak had to really squint his eyes to see. _Are those some sort of - pills?_ Oak could not quite see it, but the rattata hungry and not particularly picky with its food began gnawing. Oak saw with the corner of his eye Fuji rubbing his hands together.

"It's not specially bred," muttered Ken. "I can show you logs of its parentage later. For now, just take my word for it that this rat was not bred for either the PokeAthlons or as a trainer's companion. It is quite an ordinary specimen of its species or even perhaps a below average one, judging by the size of its whiskers. Now we will wait a minute for it to kick in and then..." His hands laid rest on a switch on the control panel.

Unwillingly intrigued now, Oak continued observing the rattata. It still seemed completely normal after eating those unknown pills, lying on its stomach yawning.

"Now."

Ken turned the switch.

Two doors opened on opposite sides of the field. Two persian, one on each side, came out. They looked thin, and their eyes immediately focused on the rattata, which was now on all fours panicking, its whiskers trembling.

Oak scowled. Persian were one of the fastest killers in Kanto, and rattata were their natural prey. They both crouched down for a moment, their instincts wanting to lead with a surprise attack, but seeing that the meal was a newborn, slow rattata, they straightened up and ran as fast as an arrow towards their target.

 _What is the point of this?_ Oak's mind was racing. _Are those pills some sort of new poison that would infect the persian upon consumption? Do they perhaps make the rattata put some off-putting smell for protection? Wha-_ His trail of thoughts was broken when Ken pushed another button on the switch.

A third door opened on the farther side of the field. This one was smaller, small enough that while the rattata could fit through, the persian would not be able to. For a moment the persian broke pace, and all three sets of eyes fixed on this new door.

And then all three pokemon darted.

The rattata was literally running for its life now with the two persian close behind. _No use_ , Oak was still thinking. _Even a specially bred athletic raticate would have no chance, yet alone a newborn rattata, the distance is too small. Too smal- Wait. Is the distance- Did the distance just grow?_

It did. The persian were now running their hardest, but unbelievably they just could not gain on the rattata. Its small legs were moving so fast that Oak could not keep track of them. Still, the rattata did not relax, eyes bulged wide open and fixed on that small exit, it was running wildly and then it, it-

It made it.

Oak gave the breath he was not aware of holding. Ignoring the persian's disappointed mewls, he faced Fuji, who, not hiding his excitement, was grinning widely. "Well?" he asked, quite pleased with himself.

"The pills - some sort of enhancement med, I think, but unlike any I've ever seen," muttered Oak. "Incredibly strong in its effect no doubt, but what's remarkable is that it did not kill the subject. I mean, such strong medication on such a young small pokemon... It is still alive though, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course, otherwise it would be pointless." Fuji brushed the question aside while pressing another button on the panel. A small display screen flickered to life and showed the same rattata in an adjacent, smaller room. It looked terrified and was huddled at the furthest corner of the room, but was still very much alive.

"How?" Oak continued muttering. "Adrenaline pills or other drugs can only add so much energy, this requires something overexert, something more that can come from the body, somethin- Ah. Of course. The full moon."

It was known to all trainers, rangers, and researchers that lunar beams had certain effects on certain pokemon. Almost every dark and fairy type seemed to draw power from them and some pokemon were required to bath in moonlight to evolve. A few species of pokemon were even observed to heal from fatal wounds when left under a full shining moon. This information was helpful for trainers and rangers to train and understand their companions, whereas for researchers it made an incredible mystery still waiting to be solved. _Though it seems_ , Oak thought, _Fuji is one step closer in solving it_.

"Clever as always Samuel," Fuji said, though his excitement seemed to have lessened - Oak had no doubt that it was because he figured the trick out before Fuji had the chance to explain. "The pills - batch W - harness those lunar energies that have kept us researchers in the dark for years. Using a formula I invented, I have managed to compartmentalize these energies in power, speed, and durability."

As he was speaking, he motioned Oak outwards, and together they left the deck. He continued while they walked together in those empty corridors. "At the present, well, I'm not one to stroke my own back, but my work is revolutionary. Oak." Fuji stopped and faced Oak. His tone was more serious this time. "You are this nation's anointed Pokemon Professor. You can see both the problems and the future of this work, can't you?"

Oak could. The pills - W, Fuji had called them - were definitely not practical. Oak was pretty sure that W could only store these lunar energies during a full moon and possibly only in a lab environment. Even then, he guessed the process would require an expensive budget, long hours and much workforce.

 _But_ , Oak's mind was fully opened to the possibilities now. _But if we could hasten the storing process - perhaps with the usage of moonstones? Questions for later - everything would change. With W, the long years required for trainers to strengthen pokemon would now take seconds. Rangers would no longer need to fear strong wild pokemon - what wild pokemon stood a chance against W enhanced specially trained pokemon? Expeditions could increase, humanity could reinstate itself into areas lost to the wild. Indigo's army would be unstoppable, the threat of an economically strong Hoenn to the south or Sinnoh to the north would be meaningless. Even the pokecenters would benefit from this technology; moonlight is able to heal some pokemon wounds, can W not do the same?_

Oak stood silently for a moment and then finally looked into Fuji's eyes. "The formula. Ken, I need to see it before I give this a go. I need to see if this, this experiment you held was a onetime thing, a stroke of luck, a dead end or, or if this does indeed go somewhere. I truly hope it does Ken, because I'm not going to lie, this is amazing, amazing work. But I have to see it. And if it does go somewhere, I promise I will work with you to make this reach its potential."

As Oak spoke Fuji's eyes darkened. After a slight pause, he spoke. "I'm afraid that's just impossible Samuel. My main funder, my main anonymous funder, for this project asked me to - you see, it's in my contract. This formula is for his and my eyes only."

 _His?_

"I cannot get this project league approved if I do not see the formula Ken. And no matter who your, eh, mysterious funder is, he cannot help you as much as the league can. This is big Ken. You will need better equipment, better helpers, researchers, more money, better everything. Don't be stupid and walk me through this formula Ken."

Fuji stayed quiet for a moment. Then he whispered, "I'm afraid what you ask for is impossible Samuel."

"I see." Oak frowned. Both men stood still now, an awkward silent growing. "Tell you what," said Oak, willing to compromise. "We don't have to reach an agreement right now. It's been an especially long night for me and I would really like to rest. How about I come back tomorrow, we run a few more tests together, and if they also end up as successful as tonight's, well I can't promise anything, but I will try my best to convince those up at the Plateau to fund this. What do you say?"

"Brilliant Samuel," replied more cheerfully Fuji. "Let me escort you out. Oh, and before I forget, congratulations are in order I believe. A second grandchild, yes?"

"Yes, yes he's already three months old now. My son sent me pictures again, let me show you..." They continued their small talk a few minutes more until Oak suspected they were near the exit to these maze-like corridors. "Wait Ken, could you show me to the lavatory. Old bladder, long trip, do the math."

Following Fuji's instructions, after Oak entered the toilet cabin, he immediately locked the door and proceeded to remove his belt. He shook the belt violently while whispering, "Wake up Dolos."

The belt shuddered, yawned, and began changing color, becoming a pretty shade of pink. The thin and long shape of the belt thickened and shortened until what remained was a shapeless pink blob - with two eyes and a mouth planted on as if a child had drawn them.

Dolos, the professor's personal ditto, looked up to its master. Oak gave three simple commands. "Search. Store. Escape."

Dolos gave an understanding cry and then oozed out of the door. Oak waited a few more minutes, and then he too left.

))(())((

An hour later Oak had checked in to his hotel and was strolling up and down in his room. _All went too well_ , he thought. His greatest concern was passing the mindspection, if any psychic pokemon had focused a split second on Oak, his ditto would have been detected and the plan would have foiled. Now however, Dolos was searching every nook and cranny of Research Block B without being disturbed, thanks to the block being abandoned. _A little too convenient, but Ken probably did not want any disruptions._ Dolos was too well trained to be caught by conventional means - being able to transform into anything, anytime did come in handy - so until the guards made their psychic pokemon sweep the place, Dolos was safe. Oak suspected Dolos had at least two hours to himself, so after checking the clock in his room, he decided to shut some eye.

He woke up exactly two hours later, his perfect internal clock ever always ticking. Surprisingly, he found a kadabra staring right back at him, on his bed.

"You glob, why didn't you wake me up." Oak poked the kadabra and it changed its shape back to Dolos. _The kadabra at the door probably eventually detected him, so Dolos turned into it and teleported to me as an escape. Lucky their psychic was a kadabra and not a slowbro._ Normally, Oak had trained his ditto to escape using the drain pipes, but whatever worked best. Impressed with Dolos' improvisation skills, "Alright good job," he said. "Now. Show."

The ditto, having stored everything it had seen during its searching phase to its memory, began rapidly changing shape. One by one, it became everything it had seen, and after the first few changes, Oak's brows rose in concern. After a few more, Oak's face was unmistakably angry, and finally, after the last shape, Oak without hesitation reached to his dex and dialed Blaine.

))(())((

"The media is having a field day with this one," said Oak.

"I don't blame'em. Still, it could'a been worse."

Oak gazed sideways at his friend Blaine. "Worse?"

A week had passed since Oak's call to Blaine. After the call, Blaine had assembled a team of spec-ops trainers from the Plateau, and two days later they were ready to crash Cinnabar Laboratories to arrest Fuji and all his known associates. But they were too late. The place was a blood bath; filled with bodies that were torn, slashed, and ripped apart. There was no sign of Fuji himself, but his mansion was burnt down and a body about the same height and size was found within. Unfortunately, the body was too burnt to be identified. The investigation of what the media was now calling the "Cinnabar Massacres" was still ongoing, but the operation team was able to confirm that all the bodies within the lab - except _the_ one - were all co-workers of the now allegedly late, Dr. Ken Fuji.

Blaine looked up to his friend and smiled "Yes. Worse."

Oak closed his eyes. In his mind, Dolos was still changing shape. First becoming an eevee. Then a cage. A clefairy. Cage. Jigglypuff. Again, a cage. Eevee. Jigglypuff. Clefairy. Cage. Numerous times. All three pokemon were incredibly rare and protected under League laws - laws that Fuji thought did not apply to himself apparently.

Oak could guess why he needed these species. Eevee were unique in physiology, their bodies adapted to their surroundings and evolved rapidly, whereas both clefairy and jigglypuff had a strong and mysterious connection with moonlight. Experimenting on these three species was probably necessary in developing W. Oak suspected that if Ken had stopped with only these three species, given the success of his experiments, the league might have issued a pardon.

If only he had stopped with those three.

Dolos' next shapes were nidorino and nidorina. Again, pokemon so rare, they could only be found in Kanto's Safari Zone in Fuchsia. Skitty. Munna - no doubt smuggled in from Unova, since they could not be found naturally in Indigo. And finally, its last shapes.

The dead bodies of Cinnabar Island's Gym Leader and his team.

Oak opened his eyes again. "Was his wife informed?"

Blaine caught on. "Yes. Went to her myself. Took it like a champ. Devastated of course, but still. Like a champ." Blaine looked slightly disturbed.

"What is it?" Oak asked.

Blaine stared at the ashes of Fuji's home for a few minutes. "She's pregnant."

Oak closed his eyes again. When he reopened them, he asked, "What will you do for her?"

"Me? Or the Plateau?"

"Both."

"Well she is, ah, was the wife of a league official and her husband was probably killed on duty. The league takes care of its leaders Oak, so I'm guessing a large insurance pay is waiting for her. As for me, well, I've started with resigning."

"You did _what_?"

"Resign."

"Why?"

"I've gotten too old for the Plateau, Oak. See, the media isn't covering it because of this shit-storm, but this new kid, this Lance. He stomped through the league. Sixteen Badges. Defeated me, Pryce, Giovanni, and Chuck in a row. He defeated the Champion in the same day."

"Agatha _lost_?"

"Yep, though an official statement hasn't been made yet so keep it low. We're going to have a new head of state and probably a great one. Lance is young, handsome, strong, smart, and rich. All that Blackthorn money. Anyways, after your call, I reported to him. It was thanks to him that I could assemble a task force so quickly. Afterwards I began thinking, you know, stuff like this never happens on the mainland but always on the islands and, well, this is my hometown. I should've taken better care of it, damn it. And now that there is an unfortunate opening, I thought..."

"That you could be reinstated here as leader."

Blaine looked slightly embarrassed, but Oak understood. Blaine continued. "And I'm not the only one. Chuck too is thinking of transferring back to Cianwood, and Pryce to Mahogony. Giovanni, I think, is already being reinstated as eighth to Kanto. Agatha will now be an Elite Four member, but I think she too is thinking of settling down."

"So not only a new champion, but also a new four. This is indeed news. Though I admit the sound of you here and Chuck in Cianwood is reassuring. Now if we could only solve the Sevii Islands..." Oak halfheartedly joked.

"Now if we could only solve the matter at hand," Blaine muttered realistically. A quiet grew between them as they stood across the ashes of Fuji's old home, where they were to oversee the investigation.

"Something does not add up." Blaine broke the silent. "Either Fuji himself or someone related to this research was tipped of us coming. So, again, either Fuji himself or someone else kills anyone that might know a thing. Then to keep it safe, Fuji's mansion is also burnt down. As a result, not a single sample of W or of any means to manufacture it is left."

Blaine shrugged and then continued. "This part I honestly get. Someone worked real hard to erase W's existence, okay. What I don't get is - why leave _his_ body in the lab?"

He took in a breath and went on. "Forensic says the body is a few days old. My guess is that much smuggling around the lab finally drew someone's attention so he went in to investigate. Probably didn't report to the Plateau since the championship games are on - thought he could handle things on his own. Anyway, he walked in, and somehow they managed to kill him. Since the games have begun, not many will be visiting the gym. A phone call from the gym to the wife has been made. The wife quotes that someone sounding exactly like her husband has assured her that he will be staying at the gym for a while due to 'problems'. So, the killers have cleared suspicions with the wife, and it's unlikely anyone will visit the gym. They had three days. Why didn't they dump the body Oak? Why did they keep it?"

Oak had no answer to the question. On his mind however was in his opinion a far more dangerous one. _Who could have possibly tipped these killers of a secret league assault on the labs?_

))(())((

Deep in a cavern connected to the volcano Dr. Fuji's lab intern Proton felt like he was about to boil alive. _The price of secrecy_ , he thought grimly. He was almost there to the rendezvous point, and his golbat patrolled around him making sure with its echolocation that he was not being followed.

Ahead the cavern widened. He cried out. "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

The answer came. "To extend our reach to the stars above!" Proton grinned and walked ahead.

In front of him stood a man with almost no distinguishable features, though in his line of work he had to be like that. This was their organization's espionage and smuggling operative Petrel. He barely looked at Proton and asked, "W?"

Proton reached into his bag and pulled out a bag of pills. "Better. This is batch X. That fool Fuji always so sure of his intelligence - never suspected that all the time I was working for him, I was actually perfecting his formula."

"They work?"

"Of course they do. Though we need to report to the boss that moon stone mining will be necessary, just like predicted in his plans. The sooner we begin mining, the sooner we can begin reverse engineering and manufacturing on Sevii Five." He tossed the bag to Petrel who caught it midair.

Petrel gritted his teeth and asked, "And the formula?"

Proton smugly grinned. "In here," he said while pointing with his index finger to his own head.

Petrel looked slightly impressed of Proton's perfect eidetic memory. "You memorized it?"

Proton gave a thumbs up.

"And the last item?"

Proton's grin dropped. Nervously he opened his bag wide and gave a glimpse of its contents to Petrel before quickly closing it shut again. Petrel briefly saw a metal canister.

"That's it then?"

"That's it." Proton approved. "What will be done with it?"

"Later. For now, let's get you out of this island." Petrel motioned him forward deeper to the caves.

"I have to warn you Petrel, both Blaine and Oak are here with a squad of trainers. I positively have no idea how we can make it out of here."

Petrel looked reassuringly upon Proton, the organization's chief scientist. "You've done your job soldier. Now let me do mine."

For a brief moment, as both men walked further into the dark, theirs and the hovering golbat's shadows intertwined. For that moment, if anyone were standing, they might have curiously remarked upon the light play that shaped the three intertwining shadows similar into one big, dark letter "R".

But then again, no one was there and so, the moment passed.


	2. Chapter 1: Destiny and Dragon Fire

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER ONE

Destiny and Dragon Fire:

 _The sun is high. Two kids are crouched hidden in the bushes near the town gate. They know from experience that in two minutes there will be a guard shift. They know there will be a few seconds during that shift the gate will stay open. For the brave, that moment is everything._

 _The two kids look upon each other. The spiky haired sandy blonde one grins. "Chicken?" The dark haired one says nothing but smiles. They both take position._

 _The door opens. The kids dart._

 _"Hey-"_

 _"Wha-"_

 _The guards are already left behind as the boys run. They run until they can no longer hear the town. They run through the dwindling forest route and after certain they are not followed, they stray into the trees. They stop and breath the free air. Then they laugh._

 _"Further than ever this time."_

 _"Not nearly as far enough."_

 _They grin. Which had said which? It is all blurry..._

Wait, it was all blurry...

 _The kids are by the river being boys. Fishing. Wrestling. Swimming. Drying in the sun._

 _"Check it out," the blonde one whispers, "there."_

 _A yellow mouse is near, spying the kids, and yet unafraid, it heads to water refusing to change its daily course._

And why should it have though? We were the trespassers, this was his turf...

 _The dark haired one stands suddenly, childishly brave. He walks towards it, arms wide wanting to... Hold it? Catch it? Pet it?_

Why did I really do that? Did I even remember?

 _"Red don't be stupid." Voice wary. "Red, watch it - Red!"_

 _"Red!"_

"Reeed!"

"RED!"

Startled I woke up. A familiar pair of blue eyes greeted me. Too near my face. I kicked.

"Ow, what the fuck man-"

"LANGUAGE!" came a roar from below. Blue chuckled while his one hand tried to straighten those abnormally spiky hair of his. "Sorry ma'am!" he yelled back.

"Seriously though, what the frickin' hell were you dreaming. It took forever to wake you up." His eyes paused a bit on my bedside poster. "Man, I told you not to hang that Sabrina pic, no wonder you don't want to wake up, getting laid only in your dreams pal." I kicked again, but this time he jumped aside and casually sat on my chair.

I groaned and sat up straight in bed. Rubbing my eyes, I asked the time. "6 in the morning," came the answer. He must have not liked the look in my eyes so he felt the need to add. "I couldn't sleep. Your mom was kind enough to let me in. Could have been my charm, or because I didn't stop knocking on the door."

"One or the either," I muttered. I was still under the effects of my dream and hadn't adjusted to reality yet. I stared at Blue. "You're in my seat."

"Well excuse frickin' me your Highness. Would you also like me to bring your breakfast to bed and take care of that morning wood you got there?" Blue said, still sitting in my chair while I adjusted my covers more appropriately. "Seriously though how could you sleep last night knowing that today would come?"

"Last night? It's _still_ night moron." Then, I admitted. "Couldn't sleep at first. Then, I don't know, must've dosed off. Was dreaming the day I got this." I waved my right hand. On my arm, below the hand, the lightning looking scar, a Lichtenberg figure, could be clearly seen.

"Huh." Blue looked unimpressed. "That can't be an ominous way to start this day." I threw my pillow at him which he dodged again.

"How was your night?" I asked.

"With Daphne. And then with Sarah. Both of whom could not believe that I had made it and would miss me terribly. I spent my time with them a bit to, you know, calm my blood, get the adrenaline drop but nope. Couldn't shake the excitement."

"So, you began the night with two lovely ladies but still managed to end up in my room," I said making his grin drop a little. "Get outta here. I'm gonna shower."

"Meet ya downstairs," he yelled as he darted down the stairs. Shaking my head, I entered the upstairs bathroom and the shower.

A minute late ice-cold water was running. "Get used to it," I muttered to myself as I stepped in. The sudden chill brought me wide awake, and as it tended to happen while showering, I was lost in memories and dreams.

))(())((

"It's your blood," my mother had said. "I can't fight that. I want to but can't." She had never spoken more on the subject.

I did not know if it was my blood or something else, but truth be told, I did have it. The spark. The talent. The sense. Whatever they called it. Could read and write before school, so I skipped first year elementary and directly began second. Even then I was smarter than my peers. At that age it was harder to make friends with those older and more stupid than you, so during the first year of school I spent most of my time alone on the school yard while other kids played catch or ball.

The pidgey were the first wild pokemon I ever saw, if you could call them wild. Nothing much wild grew in Pallet Town. To others they were part of the landscape; the flying pidgey chasing after crumbs, the occasional growlithe on leash panting behind their owners, the wooper that came out after the rain... All part of the scenery. Ordinary.

Not for me.

My first week in school all I did during breaks was pidgey-watching. Which one was the fastest? The slowest? The heaviest? Their reaction times. My brain was a sponge, absorbing every minuscule detail of the flock of pidgey that inhabited the school grounds.

By the second week, I caught one using a makeshift trap with the help of a loaf of bread and a cardboard box. She was one of the slower ones of the flock, but she was mine. I named her Feathers.

I hid her in the same box. I hid her and fed her and secretly trained her. Well, 'train' was a strong a word. I was only six after all and had no official education. Mine was old school trial and error experimenting, but eventually I came to the simplest training method of all. When I asked Feathers to do something, if she did it, she was rewarded with bread. If not, left hungry. It was fascinating for me to see the progress Feathers made, her beginning to associate my words to first objects, then actions. Eventually, she became better at understanding me, and I used her mostly for what I would simply describe as 'fetch'. Every day, I made her fly relatively longer distances and asked her to do this in shorter times. She grew leaner and faster under my tutelage.

The year passed by. School work was a joke and having past my boring second year elementary education, I couldn't wait to visit Feathers again in her old cardboard box home.

I still remember the shock on my face when I was greeted by something other than Feathers. This bird was larger and had pink short hair atop her head. Whereas Feathers was small, this was at least as big as me. And this one swatted me aside with one big wing, chirped loudly, and flew off.

That was the first time I saw a pidgeotto.

The wing swat left a mark that couldn't have gone unnoticed, and reports of a pidgeotto seen were coming. It didn't take long for the authorities to put two and two together. An uncomfortable talk with the sheriff, my teacher, and mom awaited me.

"Pidgeotto aren't exactly classified as alpha level threats, and this one hasn't hurt anybody so we'll let this slide. Still ma'am, you should remind your kid that he should leave training to the professionals. It's our job to keep the danger outside these walls and anymore unlicensed training will not be tolerated again," the sheriff said strictly to my mother.

"Still at this age to accomplish an evolution! Ma'am have you considered your child for training school?" my teacher asked awe stricken to my mother.

My mother said nothing.

For me that incident changed everything. I learned that with time and effort, pokemon evolved. I had unknowingly evolved mine only for it to become stronger than me, so it had flown off. For this to never happen again, I had to learn everything I could about pokemon. Everything.

I never left the library that summer.

The next school year I met Blue - back then of course he was Gary. Some big shot's grandson so every teacher was sucking up to him. He was my age, 5 months older, but he too had skipped first year. We ended up in same class.

We hated each other.

))(())((

I turned off the water, dried myself off, and headed downstairs to the kitchen. My mother was up and wearing her apron, she held the coffee pot in one hand and flipped pancakes with the other. Blue was seated, and in front of him stood a ginormous amount of pancakes.

"Mew dammit something is up with you today." He grumbled. "Took your damn sweet time."

"Morning mom," I said, ignoring him completely. My mom smiled a bit tightly to my liking but returned my greeting. "Morning love. Better dig in quickly before you test Garret's patience here." I rolled my eyes and began eating.

It was about seven by the time we left my house. Blue was fidgeting all over as he rambled on and on, and truth be honest, I wasn't really listening. We got on our bikes and began pedaling. After a while Blue shut up, and we rode our bikes the rest of the way in enjoyable quiet.

We arrived in front of Pallet Laboratories half an hour later. The door was still locked and the others hadn't arrived yet. "What's with everyone being late?" muttered Blue.

"We're early," I replied. We locked our bikes, and with nothing to do, sat waiting.

"So, tell me about the starters," I said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he lied.

"You live in the same house with your grandpa. Your grandpa issues the starters. Tell me what you know," I pressured.

"Gramps won't tell me anything. I'm not gonna lie, I tried asking him till I bugged him to death, and I also tried hacking his dex. He isn't the smartest man in Indigo for nothing you know. I found nothing. Nada," he said.

"Blue," I continued pushing. "I've seen you hack his dex when you were eleven."

He grinned at that. "Yeah, well, afterwards he set a tauros on me, so lesson learned."

I sat quiet after that, knowing Blue would eventually crack. He could never help himself, he had this need to show off and boast his knowledge. Impatient as ever, he stood up and began pacing around. Finally, he spilled. "I do know five arrived."

"Genius," I said. "Knowing that there are five graduates this year, it must have been hard for you to come up to that number."

"Wise cracking doesn't suit you Red," he snapped. "I also know that one of them must be packing quite a punch because gramps was chuckling all over the house yesterday. 'I wish I could see the look on his face,' he kept muttering. So one of us is getting something that even surprised gramps."

 _Interesting news_ , I thought, _though entirely useless_.

"Look," interrupted Blue my thoughts. "They're coming." One by one the other three graduates arrived. They greeted Blue warmly, me curtly, and then drifted off talking among themselves. Blue joined in on their conversation, and I was left ignored.

I really didn't mind. People were never my strong suit. People in fact bored me. There were exceptions; my mother, of course, and the entire Oak family. A strict need-to basis had always been my strategy with people, and I doubted that would ever change.

I heard the click first. The doors to the laboratory opened from the inside and a middle aged bearded man wearing a warm smile stood in front of us. He cleared his throat with a short "Eh-hem," and the other graduates fell silent.

"Welcome, welcome! One, two, three, four aaand five, lovely, lovely all of you are here. Please, please follow me in!"

"Ugh," whispered Blue as he passed me. "Could he be any lamer? Sorry I meant could he be, be any lamer?" I couldn't help snickering.

We walked together for a short while until we were led to a large open room. The room was mostly, in fact, entirely empty except for the table across the room. And on the table were the-

"Starters!" The man, who was actually one of Professor Oak's assistants, pointed. "Each held in its own pokeball. Each has been bred or trained here in Pallet Labs to be the perfect starting companion! You've all made it this far, so you know the drill. In a few minutes, the timers on those balls will release and the first to reach you will become your star..." His voice drifted away in my head as my eyes fixed on the pokeballs. I realized my mouth went dry.

I took deep breaths to steady myself but I couldn't help shaking. Now that the moment was here, I couldn't even imagine how I could have had slept last night when: This. Was. It. Breezing through elementary school. Being selected to training school. Graduating early. Long gone were the days where I hid a pidgey in a card box. This was the moment I would be separated from the norm. I tried focusing myself on the assistant but barely heard his words.

"...fter I will need you to sign these forms so I can give you your trainer card, pokedex, and starting fee. Unlike other professions, as trainers these cards will allow you to directly challenge gyms for badges, instead of the years of gym work one would require. Of course, the league still advises young trainers to hone their skills at gyms for, well, at least the first few badges instead of rushing head long into-"

"Skip the basics and get to it." I heard Blue whisper behind me. I realized my hand was trembling.

"And, well, that pretty much covers it." He checked his watch. "You should be ready. The starters are just as excited as you, some even more. One is particularly rowdy. Get ready."

We all tensed. "Remember," the assistant said. "they will bolt towards you. The first one to reach you will be your partner forever."

"This is iiit..." whispered Blue again. He seemed to have lost his voice, but I agreed. This was it. This was destiny. Depending on our partners, our entire roster would shape, our team strategies, our future, all hinged on this moment...

"Now!"

All five balls opened simultaneously. My eyes had but a moment to register, but it was enough. For a split-second time stood still, and I was able to repeat the mental picture my eyes had taken over and over again till what seemed to be eternity passed.

The red lights shaped into matter midair.

A small, pink, bird-like, yellow haired pokemon. A smoking cloud of fire. What seemed to be a striped giant plug. A brown fur ball. And...

A yellow rat.

Suddenly I was twelve years old again.

 _"Red!" the boy shouts._

 _The other one does not hear him or hears him too late. Either way, the pokemon has its tail in the air. Its cheeks sparkle, and it lunges._

 _A strike of flash. Impossible for the human eye to track._

 _Pain. Right arm numb. Burning. The boy falls to his knees but refuses to pass out. The beast and man lock eyes._

 _"Red!"_

 _Startled, the beast prepares to send another strike of lightning, but before it can, the earth trembles and a roar is heard. A giant hoof presses down and pins the rat by its tail. It squeals but refuses to pass out. The beast and man lock eyes._

 _Then a red light swallows the beast. And the man passes out._

The second passed.

This was destiny.

My scar began aching again.

The pikachu was the first to reach a trainer. In this case, the trainer was me. It ran - how quick it was - until it stopped right in front of me. We locked eyes, once again, after five years. I reached down with my right arm. Its nose twitched as it smelled my scar, then it jumped up and climbed to my shoulders.

Still filled with adrenaline, still traumatized by memories, and still burdened with the thought that this meant something, I began manically laughing. It started as small cackles but shortly after, I was bursting out, my stomach hurting and my eyes in tears. The pikachu, it - a he, I realized - jumped down, obviously bothered by my sudden behavior. Still, he didn't run far and stood near me.

As my sudden episode passed I remembered I was not alone in this experience. Keeping myself together again, I checked the other graduates and their starters.

I realized the other three pokemon were a smoochum, magby and elekid. They stood close by their trainers who looked quite happy with their partners. _And why not_ , I thought. A smoochum would eventually evolve into a jynx, a powerfully offensive albeit frail pokemon, whereas the magby and elekid would become a magmortar and elektrivire, each of them bulky and strong if slow. And as for Blue...

I couldn't help it. My nerves were already stretched to their limits and maybe, definitely, it was rude, but I laughed.

Blue was stuck with an eevee. He too looked unbelievably at the little brown house pet happily nibbling at his feet.

Slowly, Blue raised his head. I thought he was speechless for once, but he sighed, reached down, and picked his eevee up in his arms.

"Alright girl," he said directly to it - her. "Looks like you and me are about to make history." His eyes regained his confident look and the eevee yelped. Then he looked at me. "Whoah Red, nice of you to pick a starter that tried to kill you once. Makes my goal a lot easier."

"Yeah, your goal of winning all beauty contests, is it? Cause that's where you're going with your starter." I shot back. He gritted his teeth, ready for a rebuttal, when a silent "Ah-hem" interrupted our banter.

"Now that your starters are picked, I'm afraid we have a teeny bit of bureaucracy left. If all of you would fill in and sign these forms..."

It took a while for me to stop the trembling of my hands, but eventually all five us signed the necessary forms and Roy, the assistant, gave each of us a small package.

"Please, please check the contents now immediately - there should be five balls, a pokedex, and a pokebelt. Try turning on your dexes, we've observed some small technical problems with these newer models. Oh, oh and don't forget to grab your starter balls from the table!"

I reached out to the central ball on the table when I heard a light growl. Everybody turned their heads towards my pikachu, whose fur was now stiff and tail was high. He was giving the ball a nasty look.

I ignored him and reached again.

No warning.

I just had time to pull my hand back. The spot on the table where the small surge of electricity had hit was now blackened. My pikachu was still growling.

"You might wanna stop doing that Reddy boy." Blue grinned. He casually took his own pokeball and recalled his eevee. So did the other trainers with their own starters - they were smirking nastily though.

I ignored them and looked my pikachu in the eye. "You can stay out. But I need the ball."

The second I said that he could stay out, he relaxed. Deeming it safe, I put my belt on and added the starter ball.

"Hey what the- This dex is broken!" Blue complained.

I checked mine. It made a small hissing noise, and then its screen went black.

"Oh deary, dear..." Roy looked genuinely sad. "Is anyone else having the same problem?" The other trainers' dexes were fine, and they seemed to be getting impatient, not that I blamed them. I too could not wait to get out of here to begin my career, so I was understanding when Roy asked from Blue and me to wait for a minute while he escorted the others out.

Blue was... Well, like Blue I guess.

"Of all the rotten luck! A fucking broken pokedex. I'm gonna have a talk with gramps next I see him - like I needed any much more delay." He looked furious. Then as if a sudden thought occurred to him, his face lightened a bit. "Though it will be fun when I point out his failure of a dex - he doesn't like it when his mistakes are pointed out."

"You would be wasting your breath. I assure you nothing here was a mistake." Behind us came in probably the most well-known man in Indigo - excluding the champion of course.

"I needed a private moment to speak with you both and, well, at the same time I needed it to seem as if I wasn't playing favorites." Professor Samuel Oak put down the small metal briefcase he was holding on the table. My pikachu jumped up and sniffed the case once, then lost interest and rolled down on its back. The professor gently began scratching my pikachu's belly.

"Like your starter?" he asked me, grinning. "Truth be told, he isn't that quite ready yet to start out, needs at least a few more years of training. Never quite got used to being put in a ball for example, this one, as I'm sure you realized." His eyes briefly stopped on the blackened spot on the table. "But when I saw that you graduated early, I thought, well, it might be interesting and added him to the roster."

"Great story gramps." Blue broke in without waiting for my reply. "Maybe now you can also explain why we're being held here."

"Because Garrett, as of right now, I am playing favorites." He faced the briefcase and pulled out a pokeball. "Talos," he said as a porygon came out. "Would you mind?" The funny looking artificial pokemon looked at the suit and touched with its nose the electronic lock-pad. In a flash, it was gone.

"Two-part security." The professor explained when he saw me interested. "The first lock is programmed by myself to only respond to Talos' meddling. After Talos is done with the system, a four-code password is needed. Voice activated." Just as he finished explaining, Talos materialized in front of the case. "Thank you," said the Professor kindly as he called Talos back. He cleared his throat and said clearly the numbers. "Two. Nine. Zero. Eight."

I saw Blue shift slightly when his grandfather said those numbers.

The case silently opened. In it stood two small computer chips.

"The latest software version of the Indigo pokedex." His eyes were shining as he introduced us the chips. "I programmed it myself and then sent it over to William. He too added a few small tweaks. This here is the result. Faster. Broader range. Can track individual pokemon on a genetic level. Has more storage capabilities for personal notes. Includes not only pokemon native to Indigo; but also those to Hoenn, Kalos, Sinnoh, and even Unova. Programmed to update as newer species in Alola are being discovered."

I gasped. Blue too seemed silent for once. Every trainer's pokedex in Indigo included pokemon native to Kanto and Johto, that was a given. Those who were willing to pay extra could possibly get their hands on one that included the native lists of Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos. But Unova was a semi-theocratic nation with both its Champion Alder and its religious leader Ghetsis being known for their conservative ways. Its borders were almost always closed, and with it supporting an entirely different habitat of pokemon than those found in Indigo, Hoenn, Kalos and Sinnoh, I wondered how the professor had managed to get his hands on the Unovan pokelist.

As for Alola? Expeditions were still being made to the newly discovered man inhabiting chain of isles. With almost the entire world being lost to the wild, the discovery of Alolan natives by Hoennese voyagers had made great echoes. Both Indigo and Sinnoh had immediately sent their own rangers, and last I heard, a stable league government was trying to be established. The problem was most of the natives opposed these foreign 'invaders' and the foreigners themselves were not exactly in sync, each nation tried manipulating the locals in their own interests. With the isles being full of many unknown pokemon and the political instability, Alola was one of the most dangerous places on earth right now.

"Gramps this is, really, I mean, well, huh, thank you," said Blue. I too nodded.

"I'm not giving this exactly out of the kindness of my heart." the professor said sternly. "While both William and I are certain that this device works, it hasn't been actually field tested. So I expect you to use it daily and send me weekly reports."

"Great. Homework," groaned Blue, but I knew he was joking. This was a far too valuable device. Half the battles were determined because one side never knew exactly what the other side's pokemon were capable of. Almost all the time, when one entered an unknown, never seen pokemon, that side won. With this pokedex, both Blue and I lowered our chances of getting blindsided.

"Now the both of you are gifted in more ways than one," the elder Oak said matter of factly. "The league was distressed when they heard I was handing these valuable prototypes to two novice-" Blue snorted, but the professor continued. "-trainers, but I convinced Lance that both of you were more capable than your age. In any case, please don't go around boasting about this new tech you both have. It would be harmful in more than one way."

"No worries gramps," Blue said. "And not to be ungrateful and all, but can we please, please leave now?"

))(())((

"He's pretty," my mom said. "Does he have a name?"

"Not yet." I answered back. I sat across her in my living room. Blue had made way towards his home, bidding me farewell with a "Smell ya later suckeeer". I had gone to mine, itching to begin my journey, but having one last thing to take care of.

Pikachu had taken a liking to my mother and was now napping on her lap. He still refused to be put in his ball. After leaving the lab I had tried again, but after seeing his fur crackle, I had given up.

"He's a bit stubborn," I said.

"Like you are?" My mother gave a small smile.

"I guess." I grinned. "He'll make a good battler."

"Battling is only half the responsibility." My mother shot back almost automatically. Seeing my surprised look, she sheepishly explained, "It was something your father always said..."

We sat in silence after that. I felt a little uncomfortable. My mother usually never talked to me about my father, and it made me feel uneasy that she now saw fit to speak of him the day I was determined to leave. Pikachu, sensing my turmoil I guess, woke up, and climbed down my mother's lap to between my knees. I took it as sign to go.

"Mom-"

"Did you know I remember the day Lance was crowned?" my mother cut me. Her eyes were blurry as if she was confronting memories she would rather not. "Those days my eyes were almost always on the news for... other reasons. In any case, there he was in all his glory and dragons. Dragons. Most live their life never seeing one for real. Those that do are often too scarred or traumatized. And there he stood; his black cape fluttering with air pressure as all three of them flew above him. That sight brought our people hope. 'There,' they said, 'now this is a leader. A champion.' Do you know what I thought?" Her eyes now clearer, looked straight at me, piercing my soul. "Young. That was what I thought. He was young."

I squirmed a little as I thought I could guess where my mother was going with this. Lance too had graduated training early, the same age of seventeen as Blue and me. He had conquered all sixteen gyms, doubling the minimum number required for championship entry, in a blindingly fast time of six years. The next year he had entered the championship and become Indigo's youngest champion at age twenty-four.

"Of course, it worked out well for him." My mother continued. "You know better than me. You've watched more of his battle footage than anyone. Seventeen years of victory. Every four years the championships. Four matches. Four times undefeated. A team of dragons that have never lost a match once."

I dared looking up to my mother. Her eyes were now red.

"I told you once that I could not stop you. I won't. Can't. But listen to me for once. For the young, not always does it work out as neatly as it did with Lance. In this road, the young almost always suffer."

I couldn't bear listening to her speaking so heart-broken for long, I left in a hurry and got on my bike. Without knowing why, I hit the pedals hard and cycled through town; my pikachu all the while panting and running behind me. Near the town gates I stopped. My starter gave me a nasty look before he collapsed, running all the way through town had tired him.

I would deal with him in a minute. Now I was thinking on my mother's last words.

Lance had graduated the same age as me. He had skipped the first Championship two years after his graduation and entered the second. He had needed six years of training to become the Champion.

Had my mother guessed that I was planning the even more impossible? The last championship was a year ago, Lance's fourth and latest victory. The next one would be in three years.

Three years.

Three years were left to learn how to slay dragons.

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **This is my take on the events of the game Pokemon Yellow, and how different it would be if Pokemon was based in a more realistic world with its own history. It's mainly a world building and character development story, but it will have its fair share of action and plot twists.**

 **The story will follow the Yellow game events, but there will be easter eggs and references to the other official games, fan made games, and anime (Kudos to anyone who can guess without googling which game the magby, elekid, smoochum trio reference).**

 **Next update: Week of November 27th.**


	3. Chapter 2: Sticks and Stones

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER TWO

Sticks and Stones:

Officer Jenny held my trainer's card to the light as if she was testing its authenticity.

"Spent half of my life chasing you and that Oak kid outta the woods. Can't believe they finally gave you two one of these..." Officer Jenny shook my card in her hand and then finally gave it back. She winced a moment. "Supposed I told you not to step outta the route and dwindle in the forest, I'd be wastin' my time, wouldn't I?"

I nodded honestly.

She rolled her eyes. "Cute." Then she saw my pikachu. Her eyes widened with recognition. "Hey lil fella, you caused me quite some trouble all those years ago." She addressed him.

It was true. The day of my accident, I was lucky that Professor Oak had been returning from a trip to Viridian City on his tauros, Ares. When he had arrived at Pallet's gates and learned from the guards that his grandson and I had yet again managed to escape, he had searched for us himself. He had found us just in the nick of time before my pikachu could have had given me anymore permanent damage.

Afterwards I had heard that he had quite the talk with the officers.

My starter looked at Officer Jenny for a second and then lost interest. He made himself more comfortable in the basket of my bike and continued napping.

"Huh," Officer Jenny said. "Not very talkative, is he? Kinda like you. Does he have a name?" I didn't answer immediately, I got distracted by the second time today someone pointing out the similarities between me and my pikachu. Realizing the officer was waiting on an answer, I shook my head.

"Well, all papers are in order, so take care I guess." I was about to ride through, when she called again. "Oh, and Red? Knock'em dead!"

Grinning, I waved her farewell and pedaled onward. It made me happy when other people called me by Blue's nickname for me. It felt as if its meaning was solidified.

I checked the pikachu in the basket. Still asleep. _I really need to find you a name_ , I thought.

As I cycled towards Viridian City, I went through my plan once again. Since my aim was to make it to Victory Road in three years, I needed to strategize wisely. Unlike Lance, I didn't have the time, resources, or team to go through all sixteen gyms. I would have to make do with the minimum eight.

In practice, trainers could challenge the gyms in any order they wanted to, aside from the Blackthorn and Viridian Gyms. Those two gyms were each the Kanto and Johto factions' eighth, meaning they could only be challenged if one had a minimum of seven badges. Also, unlike the other gyms, these two only gave out badges through battle. Therefore, not many trainers tried getting badges from Claire and Giovanni - the respective leaders for these gyms, Claire was none other than the heiress to the Blackthorn Dragon Breeders Clan and cousin to Champion Lance himself, whereas Giovanni was the most feared Elite Four member during the previous Champion, Agatha's reign.

Viridian City Gym was closest to Pallet town, but due to me being seven badges short, it was impossible for me to challenge it. Not sure if I wanted to either. Challenging an ex Elite Four member with just a pikachu was among the mistakes I wanted to avoid during my trainer's career.

The second closest gym to Pallet was in Pewter City, which was my aim. After Pewter, using the ferry I could go around Mt. Moon to Cerulean City for my second Gym Badge, and then south to Saffron for my third. Then to Celadon, and from there using the cycling road to Fuchsia. In Fuchsia I could catch a ship first to Cinnabar Island and then to Olivine City in Johto. My last badge would be in Ecruteak City, which would be the closest city to Olivine.

 _Overall a solid plan_ , I thought. Logistically, this route was both the safest and the quickest route I could take. By going on foot whenever I could, I would be able to both catch and train new pokemon. I imagined, including pikachu, I would need to train at least four pokemon, but I didn't think I had the time to train a full six-member roster. The last two members to my team I would probably need to buy from other trainers using my eventual earnings.

This plan of course hung on a lot of **"** ifs **"**. The common people would think that the life of a trainer was full of glory; marching from one city to another, commanding a squad of monsters, earning money by battling others...

It was not. Most trainers struggled financially. They battled frantically without planning and lost more than often, wasting their money on tournament or gym entry fees. Sometimes even the best laid out plans would foil, simply because not all pokemon were equal in strength. There were times when pokemon would be killed - Fuchsia City Gym for example had quite the reputation for its death count. Then trainers would be forced to either catch and train new pokemon or buy already trained ones, a loss of both time and money. The Plateau did offer some help for struggling trainers, for example pokecenters offered free lodging and care, but they were mostly overbooked and understaffed, so lots of trainers were forced to camp in the wild outside city gates. And that was a risk all by itself, never knowing if you would survive the night with monsters out there ready to kill you.

Most routes in Indigo were safe though. Rangers had done quite a good job at isolating dangerously classed pokemon. Yet there were still areas more dangerous than others, Mt. Silver, Ilex Forest, and the Safari for example. The route I was currently on, route K01, was one of the safest ones.

It took me a week of cycling until I reached Viridian City. I made my pikachu run along me mostly to keep his stamina up. Along the way I caught a single zigzagoon which I mainly used to train pikachu during nights when I camped. During these small training sessions, I realized my starter was one of the pikachu that could run electricity through its fur. Some electric types were capable of storing large amounts of electricity, making them invulnerable to opposing electric attacks. These were the **"** volt absorbing **"** pokemon. Other electric types ran excess electricity through their skin, leaving those touching them paralyzed in pain. A **"** static **"** shield, so to speak.

My pikachu belonged to the latter group, which bode well to his stubborn nature. He would rather take hits then dodge them, which wasn't exactly the smartest strategy for a small and frail pokemon that should rather strike from a distance. Still, instead of making him work against his instincts, I tried teaching him the right way to take hits. I taught him to run static electricity through his fur the moment of contact. At the same time, I wanted him to jump back to lessen the impact of the hit. It took him a few tries, but I was generally impressed by how quick he learned it. His sparring partner the zigzagoon would lunge, only to be paralyzed the minute it touched my starter. Meanwhile, having jumped back, my pikachu would take less damage and finish off the slowed down and already in pain zigzagoon with his powerful lightning bolts.

 _A good strategy to cripple those stronger and faster_ , I thought. It still needed to be perfected though. Pikachu could only put up his static defense only once every three times, and one time the zigzagoon managed to get a bite, which pissed my pikachu off bad. I had to threaten him with the ball to stop him from zapping the poor zigzagoon to ashes.

The ball was another example of stubbornness with my pikachu. I had long given up upon trying to put him in it. Though unusual, there were plenty of other trainers who let their pokemon roam free. Luckily, pikachu were small pokemon and would not cause much of a problem in closed spaces, though I wondered how big mine would get when he eventually became a raichu.

I didn't spend much time in Viridian City. After replenishing my supplies, I thought of visiting Giovanni's Gym, just to get a look of the place, but decided against it when I overheard an elderly man talking about it being closed. I also considered detouring a bit towards west to the end of route K22. I knew at there I could find first of the Badge Gates trainers would have to pass in order to enter the championship. I later gave up on that idea too. I was already short on time, I didn't need to waste more on symbolic visits.

In the end, I just booked a small but cheap motel room for my pokemon and me. We were both tired of spending the last week in the open and a good night's sleep would do us both good before we continued tomorrow.

After having a cold shower, I was lying on the bed, playing with my pokedex, when my starter jumped up to my stomach and lay flat. I began scratching his ears with one hand and was rewarded with growls of pleasure.

"I really need to name you, you know," I said aloud. He kept growling.

"My first pokemon was a pidgey." I continued. "I named her Feathers because, heh, she had feathers." Pikachu snorted. Chuckling, I went on. "Would you like a name like that, based on your outward appearance? How about Thunderfur, Lightningtail? No? Quickfeet?"

He gave me the nasty eye, but I was having too much fun. "The professor names his pokemon based on ancient deities and legends. Maybe you'd like something like that. What do you think of Susanoo-no-Mikota or Mikoto something, I forgot."

His cheeks sparkled.

"Right. Got it. Not big on the name." Grinning, I reached out and shut the lights. In the dark, I confessed. "I always imagined a different kind of starter, did you know?"

I could only hear my pikachu's breathing.

"Don't get mad. You should know already by now that I'm full of ambition. I don't show it to other people though. Better to be underestimated."

I didn't know why I was speaking like this, knowing that my pikachu could only understand partially, if at all, any of what I was saying. It felt good though.

"I always imagined a larvitar. I know, I know, they're illegal as starters, but something small becoming big and strong. The idea inspired me."

I shut my eyes, slowly letting sleep take its hold.

"Realistically I expected something like an ekans. Moderately dangerous, would grow strong, obedient. Kinda like those other three starters back at the lab. Those who had no problem with a pokeball."

I heard a weird sound. Had my pikachu laughed?

"If you were another pikachu I might have been disappointed. You know your kind isn't exactly the cream of the crop. Fast and quick and dashing attacks and all that, but still frail and small."

A moment my mind cleared with ideas, plans of teammates to cover my pikachu's flaws and lacking. But the hold of sleep was getting stronger. I could hear my starter's breath also getting steadier.

"But then there you were. Something haunting from my past. A small monster that scarred me forever because of my momentary stupidity. I still don't know why I approached you that day. Like I said: Momentary. Stupidity. But I'm glad I did. That act reminded me of the dangers of my dream. That I couldn't let myself relax if I was serious about this."

I remembered hearing a rumor that Lance had never smiled in his life. My lips curled upwards needlessly. With one hand I found the yellow mouse and stroked his back again.

"It is destiny that you and I are in this together. It is destiny that I now have a starter who will always remind me of my goals. Who will always remind me to think smart."

I yawned loudly and was about to finally go to sleep. One last word.

"You still need a name."

His fur lit up a moment and died.

))(())((

I stared at the seemingly endless forest in front of me.

I had left the motel early morning and headed north through the gate. Half a day of cycling later I was at the point of route K02 where the road met Viridian Forest.

I knew that if I kept to the road I would be relatively safe. I knew that rangers patrolled the forest day and night. I knew a large amount of travelers passed through without harm every day.

Yet this was still my first experience seeing the real wild, not the small woods that I was accustomed to near Pallet and route K01.

I bit my tongue. I gestured my head forward and my pikachu eagerly jumped ahead.

My first impressions of the forest were generally positive. The shade of the trees felt nice. An elderly ranger who was probably on break greeted me with a "Safe travels!" as I passed by. The highlight of my day was when a stantler jumped in front of me, stared into my eyes, and then jumped back into the trees.

I looked longingly after it. The sun had begun its descent and I could feel the evening chill. I stopped cycling for a moment and began thinking my options here. My starter next to me stopped and looked up questioningly.

I was in a dilemma. On one hand, I really wanted to reach Pewter City as quickly as possible. Without any detours that would take about three days. On the other hand, I also wanted to explore the forest. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be lost, I remembered my training well. The upside would be that I could catch new pokemon to help train mine, or even potentially add them to my main team. The downside would be that I couldn't bring my bike with and no matter how many rangers patrolled this area, it was still the wild and the night could be dangerous.

In the end my curiosity won. I chained my bike to a nearby tree and turned to my pikachu. I nodded him towards the densely arranged trees. My plan was to camp outside the road for a day and return to my bike the next. Overall, this side trip would cost me only a day's loss.

My pikachu was ecstatic. He jumped around me, ran ahead and back, and occasionally let out small bolts. I had never seen him this happy. I reminded myself that he wasn't a born and bred lab starter, but rather a trained wild one. This forest was his home. His energy rubbed off on me too, I was in a high mood as I let myself deeper into the forest.

The first thing I noticed were the sounds. The wild pokemon had made their homes deep in the woods, not near to the manmade road, so I heard all sorts of whizzing, chirping, and grunting around me. A playful yanma flew next to me for a while, but left quickly after my starter sent a lightning bolt after it. I saw a pidgeotto swoop down the trees and chase after it. I briefly wondered if it was Feathers.

Next, were the smells. They were overwhelming. I put my nose to work and followed a particularly sweet scent. I was rewarded with a small hive of paras huddled together under a tree. I kept my distance, afraid of the deadly spores they could unleash if I went near, but I marked the place on my dex. I intended to come back later, paras mushrooms were a delicacy if cooked right.

The catch of the day was a venonat. I caught him after I realized my pikachu kept avoiding a certain tree in the clearing we were. Though not psychic types, venonat had low level psychic capabilities and they emitted confusing waves as a defensive measure. No doubt they had hit my pokemon and my poor starter was running amok, wanting to go near but instead wobbling sideways. I gave an order in a loud, sharp voice, and hearing it cleared his head. He rushed forwards, headbutted the small tree, and the venonat fell backwards. Before it could run away or sink its poisonous fangs - you could never expect what a wild pokemon would do - my pikachu's thunderbolt hit it, burning it on its side. I threw a ball and caught it.

 _This is good_ , I thought. I always thought psychic pokemon were the most offensively dangerous pokemon. I could now use this venonat as a training means for my pokemon to get used to psychic attacks. Eventually though, I would have to move on with stronger psychics.

The sun was setting down so I decided to make camp in the clearing. I started a small fire and laid my sleeping bag near. I ripped a small piece of cloth from my spare clothes and went back to the paras nest. I wrapped the clothing around my mouth to prevent inhaling spores, and acting quickly, I grabbed and dragged a paras from its hind legs, minding the sharp pincers on the front. It gave small shrieks as I broke the two mushrooms on its back. Then I let it go and ran back to my campsite.

I left the mushrooms boiling in a pot of water as I released the zigzagoon, two pokemon out were better than one in the wild. As I let him out, I saw my pikachu straightening up with the hope of another sparring match, but I shook my head. Disappointed, he slumped down while the slightly more relaxed looking zigzagoon began sniffing around.

I ate my mushrooms as soon as they were ready and put out the fire. Night was setting and I did not want to attract unwanted attention. I turned to the zigzagoon who had rested all day and ordered him to guard. He gave an understanding bark as I crawled in my sleeping bag - with my pikachu, of course.

I slept soundly, knowing that both the zigzagoon and pikachu's instincts would wake me up if anything happened. Throughout the night, I only woke up once as an overly curious beatifly fluttered its large wings near me and then took off after I threw my shoe at it.

Pikachu slept without any disturbances as far as I could tell.

The next morning, I woke up to pidgey and pidgeotto chirping. I yawned, crawled out of my bed, and began cleaning up after myself. I couldn't find my shoe for a few minutes but then the zigzagoon brought it back in its mouth. "Good job," I muttered as I recalled the proud pokemon back in its ball. Pikachu was still asleep so I gave him a gentle kick. He woke up and gave me a look as if he had been awake the whole time and was waiting on me. "None of that," I said, and we tried to find our way back to the road where my bike was. It took a few tries, but we finally found the right way and made it back.

A surprise awaited us.

My bike was shattered and broken apiece. It looked as if it had been stomped on by a large foot. Next to the remains, a ranger stood.

"Yours?" he asked, grinning. "My condolences."

I was too angry to speak.

"Primeape habitat these trees you should know." He continued. "One probably saw this bike and tried to yank it away. At one point I assume something tempered it and it began smashing - not that it needs an excuse, nasty little fuckers these primeape." He looked down on me. "You know this counts as littering, don't you? You can't leave the remains of your bike here."

I was beginning to like this ranger less and less.

"Take care of this," he ordered as he noted down my trainer's ID number. "I'll be back tonight and if this mess isn't cleaned, a fine will be waiting for you." He whistled and a fearow swooped down. She cawed at me mockingly and then flew up with the ranger on her back.

I cursed loudly. Not only was my fastest means of transportation destroyed, I was stuck with this demeaning task.

I released both the zigzagoon and the venonat. Not trained, still afraid, and scarred from pikachu's attack, the venonat tried running away, but my pikachu pinned it down. The tired eye sets of the zigzagoon, the panicked bug eyes of the venonat, and the daring eyes of the pikachu all looked up at me.

"Well?" I snapped as I began clawing my hands in the forest dirt. "Start digging."

))(())((

Hours later, I was covered in dirt and on the road. My starter walked silently next to me. Both the zigzagoon and the venonat were in their balls.

I was in a bad mood. I had spent valuable time burying my broken bike deep enough. My initial plan to reach Pewter in three, four days was now impossible. On foot it would take a week at best.

But I soldiered on. This was the life of a trainer after all, full of unexpectedness. I thought of trying to make the most of it by training my pokemon against psychic attacks and catching more.

The following days were a cycle of monotonous repeat. Early morning pikachu and I would dive into the forest, always keeping the road near. We would gather, hunt, and explore. The tracking function of my pokedex came especially handy during these ventures. I caught a small mankey which I thought would be a better sparring partner than the zigzagoon for my pikachu. I also found an above averagely large metapod and added it to my small team.

Around midday, I would trail back to the road and follow it to Pewter. I would walk till night settled and make camp afterwards. During the nights, I trained my starter first physically against the mankey, then mentally against the venonat. The mankey was a much fiercer and stronger opponent than the zigzagoon, and my pikachu slept a few nights covered in bruises. His training against the venonat went far better and soon the confusing beams had no effect on him. They still had an effect on me though, and I felt myself constantly dizzy during this training.

After nine days, we finally reached the end of the forest. I was still frustrated that I lost time, but I had to admit it was for the best. The constant exercise had strengthened us, and I now felt generally more equipped to deal with Pewter Gym's challenge.

The gate guard glanced me up and down after I handed him my license. I knew I looked feral, covered in dirt, smelling like dirt, and on my shoulder a pikachu whose fur had turned brown from dirt.

"Welcome to Pewter City." He eventually managed.

I checked myself in the nearest and cheapest lodging that had a shower.

After my starter and I freshened up, we hit the pokecenter. A commune full of trainers, I was hoping I could get a good price for my zigzagoon and venonat. I sold my zigzagoon to a female trainer who wanted a well-behaved pet for his younger brother. I assured her that he was and left out the part where he was trained for only about two weeks. The venonat I sold to a bug catcher for a better price. I parted easily with it because I hoped that the metapod would evolve into a butterfree soon, a pokemon that had a slightly higher psychic caliber and would be better for training.

Next, I began touring the city.

Though separated from the rest of the region by the surrounding mountains and Viridian Forest, Pewter was bustling compared to the other two cities I had been in. Historically rich, her people struggled hard in the past, almost always under attack by wild pokemon stampeding down the hills or out of the woods. The land was barren aside for a few crops growing near the riverside, which being too far from the main settlement was a risk on its own. The people worked hard together to survive and thrive, and despite the dangers, they eventually begun capitalizing on the uniqueness of their land. Rock and stone were more plenty and easier to obtain than wood, so they built the city of them. Tunneling through the mountains to their east, they discovered a rich branch of fire stones. Digging further, they were rewarded with water, leaf, and the rarest of them all, moon stones. They began mining and, using the river, shipped these valuable stones over to Cerulean in return for much needed goods. Slowly, a bountiful trade route began to establish. The rising commerce and population finally built up to the city Pewter today was.

The greatest boost to Pewter's economy came however in the recent years, after miners discovered fossil pokemon eggs rooted deep in the mountains. Fossil pokemon were a type of rock pokemon that laid their eggs literally in stone. It took many years, even centuries for their offspring to hatch, but the results were always powerful pokemon. I knew Brock of Pewter had three of these rare pokemon in his main team, and even Lance had an aerodactyl, though it was overshadowed by his dragons.

When news of the discovery of fossils reached the other cities, researchers and scientists from all over Kanto and Johto came to have a hands-on field experience to study the abnormal behavior of these pokemon. First private and individual, then corporate, and finally league issued funding boosted the city's capital, resulting in a lively, happy city filled with friendly workers having a sip of MooMoo Milk together at the end of a hard day's work.

As I strolled through the beautifully stone crafted streets and buildings of Pewter City, my feet unintentionally led me to Pewter Gym. It was a huge, plain building and a crowd of trainers and spectators were in front. On a whim I made my way through the crowd and entered. A cool air greeted me.

I waited the line in front of the receptionist. She looked like a kind elderly woman. On her shoulder a murkrow was perched.

"First time trainer?" She greeted me warmly.

I looked at her. How had she guessed?

She explained with a smile. "Your starter on your shoulder. The more experienced keep them in balls as a hidden advantage. Only the extremely confident or the rookies show off. Anyway, how can I help you?"

I told her I wanted to challenge Brock.

Her eyebrows rose.

"I am duty bound to remind you that as a first-time battler you shouldn't challenge a leader immediately." She bent forwards closer to me, obviously trying to give me friendly advice. "Look around you. Most trainers here are rookies like yourself. Brock and his gym aides are extremely good teachers, and these trainers know it. They hope to stay here a couple of years, hone their skills, and get their first badge by completing tasks. I advise you the same. You look young, and it would hurt you to see your starter injured in a battle. Brock tries to keep casualties to a minimum, but what he hates most is overconfidence."

I looked her straight in the eye. "I am not going to get my first badge by ordering my pikachu to jump through hoops." On my shoulder, my pikachu's fur crackled.

She sighed, obviously having heard speeches like mine a lot during the years. She checked the large size dex in front of her. "An opening next Friday. Is that suitable?"

I nodded, paid my fee, and left. Behind me I heard the murkrow cawing.

))(())((

After practicing more with the mankey and pikachu, I went up to the rooftop of the motel. My starter was next to me and we both stared at Mt. Moon, towering ominously in the dark at a distance. Pikachu nuzzled closer to me. I opened my dex.

" _Brock._ " I read aloud his biography. " _Born in Pewter City. Studied at Pewter Gym before beginning collecting badges in Indigo. After six badges, instead of continuing the challenge, he applied for a position in his hometown. Spent a year as a gym aide before being appointed as leader._ " I looked at my starter. " _His main team consists of: Onix. Kabutops. Omastar. Aerodactyl_ \- hey Lance has one of those too. _Rhyperior. Golem. His signature pokemon: Diamondback the Onix. His starter: Shatterstone the Geodude._ "

"Killer team," I muttered. There were a few strategies when building teams. A **"** core **"** team would be based on two or three different types of complementary pokemon, and then you would add other pokemon depending on the core's weakness. The advantage was that you had a team ready for every scenario. The disadvantage, pokemon with different types usually fought among themselves and the trainer had to utilize different training methods for each one. The generally harder approach to team building, the only worthwhile trainer I had ever heard with this type of team was Champion Cynthia of Sinnoh, who had built her team around a steel-dragon-fairy core with her lucario, garchomp, and togekiss.

Brock's and many other trainers' teams were built on a **"** type **"** strategy, meaning most, if not all, their pokemon were the same type. It made training tremendously easier, and if you had a few pokemon to counter your team's weaknesses, you had an unstoppable team.

"Yeah." I repeated. "This team would kill us. Luckily we're not fighting it." I scrolled down the dex trying to find the gym challenges. "You see," I said to my starter, whom I was sure just wanted to sleep, "there are two ways to get a badge. With badges being the equivalent of academical degrees, normally, if I wanted to become a doctor let's say, I'd go and study for years at Celadon, Fuchsia, and a few other Gyms I forgot about. After completing their challenges, I would finally be rewarded with a badge."

I paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "But training licenses are different. They allow us to skip studying and directly issue a challenge. If we win, we get a badge, dodging years of field work. You following?" I nudged my pikachu. He gave me a slight shock. Great.

"It seems simple, right? It's not. The leaders fight tooth and claw with more experienced monsters than you could ever imagine. Ah there it is." I finally found what I was looking for on the dex.

" _Pewter Gym, Combat Rules: Clause one: If the challenger has fifteen badge_ \- wait I need to scroll down. Here. _Clause sixteen: If the challenger is a first-time challenger the match will be 2vs1 single battle in favor of the challenger._ That means I can switch between two pokemon to counter Brock's one. My plan is-"

I cut my sentence when I heard snoring. I gently carried my pokemon back to our room.

I stood awake. I couldn't sleep.

There were six days to our first match.

And I already had my plan ready.

 _...2vs1 in favor of the challenger..._

 _...what he hates most is overconfidence..._

I grinned evilly and waited for dawn to break.

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **Here are some small explanations if you're not familiar with the source games. If you've played the games after gen 3 then you probably know the abilities "** **volt absorb** **" and "** **static** **". During Red's description of pikachu I tried explaining them both.**

 **I never liked the idea of fossil pokemon being brought back to life, so instead I tweaked it a bit with the laying eggs in stone part. More details on that later.**

 **Brock's team is his PWT team in the games, except I changed relicanth in favor of rhyperior. I mean, who wouldn't want a giant rock dinosaur in favor of a slow old stone fish, am I right?**

 **The team building strategies are actual strategies that poke-battlers in real life use. When I mean real life poke-battlers, I mean gamers using Nintendo devices to connect wireless to battle others. This sort of helped me to overcome the whole "why do leaders and elite4 and even some champions only use a single type of pokemon duuuurgh?" problem in games. Also, more details on that later, possibly explained in Blue's perspective.**

 **Finally, this week you all get a double chapter, but after that I'll probably stick to a chapter a week. Also in the future I'll limit the size of these "** **Author's Notes** **" I write and only explain the hardest to find references. Everything you don't understand or are confused about will be explained in detail later, trust me without knowing me.**


	4. Chapter 3: Dropping Mountains

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER THREE

Dropping Mountains:

Not exactly how I had imagined in my head.

It was not full of enthusiastic crowds cheering and there were no dazzling light shows. There wasn't even a speaker who would usually comment about the battle on a loudspeaker.

Instead what I got was an almost empty gym, aside for a handful of trainers who were clearly there to see me humiliated. One of them even held a "You Suck!" sign up high.

People obviously did not think of this match as one worth seeing.

Pikachu was on my head today instead of his usual resting spot on my shoulder. I needed all eyes to be on him. I needed him today to be a showman. I needed him to be irritating and boasting.

Which was why I wasn't surprised when he sent a thunderbolt at the man holding the sign.

The bolt dissipated in the air of course. The psychic barriers were too strong to allow spectators getting injured. Yet the meaning of Pikachu's act was clear.

"Stop that!"

Brock entered the arena. I thought he would be irritated to battle someone like me, a nobody with no badges.

It was better than I thought. He was furious. I guessed he saw Pikachu's attack just then.

I ignored the boo's directed at me by the crowd and gave a short glance at Brock before lowering my gaze, acting as I completely ignored him.

Brock took his place across. Tall, dark, and muscular his physique had an imposing effect. His voice was naturally deep and authoritarian.

"Your pikachu pulls a stunt like that again, I will cancel this match. Do you understand?"

Looking bored, I just nodded. Brock's face scowled.

A gym aide rose up and entered the arena. He began reading from his dex aloud to a microphone "The match will be between Challenger... Red? and Leader Brock! Since this is Trainer Red's first league match-" A laughter from the crowd interrupted him. "A-hem, first league match, I will be dictating the rules now..."

I sat bow legged on my platform and began rubbing Pikachu's belly.

My complete lack of respect and continued attitude was making Brock visibly boil with anger. _Good_ , I thought, _I need him angry_.

The aide continued while I kept up my nonchalant act. Although I wasn't sure if it was an act. Blue always said that the reason I never spoke much to other people was my body's instinctual defense mechanism - since I apparently tended to annoy people with my humans-are-booooring shtick, shutting up was the only way of avoiding getting punched.

From the look of Brock's face, I figured he would do more than just punch me.

Finally, the aide was quiet. I stood up again, and Pikachu made a show of flashing his fur with electricity next to me. Brock's eyes seemed to switch from me to Pikachu for an instance.

"Last chance Trainer Red. Forfeit now and I shall still allow you to study and learn here."

I just deliberately looked at the giant screen which now read "Trainer Red vs Leader Brock!".

"Fine. I pray you are not sending that rat of yours to death." And he threw a ball from his belt.

The earth shook and I barely held my balance. What the earth's trembling could not, the mighty roar that came after did. I fell backwards, but, embarrassed, quickly pulled myself back up. I looked upon the monstrosity that stood before me.

Rock atop rock atop rock. Each weighing how much? Half a ton? A ton? Together how heavy was this beast? I had to arch my back to finally see its head. Its eyes blazing, between was a razor-sharp stone blade poking outwards the head.

 _The Rock Snake Pokemon..._

"Brock's choice will be Diamondback, his onix!"

The crowd cheered. Brock stood now cross armed with a strange determined look on his face. I knew what he was thinking. He was going to kill Pikachu. It would obviously pain him of course, but he clearly thought me lacking all qualities necessary in becoming a trainer. I had no control over my pikachu, I was showing him off as a play thing to attack innocents, I was too eager to battle, and so on... By taking a life, he would teach me a lesson and perhaps stray another spoiled boy from this path which was only reserved for the mentally strong.

He was obviously not playing games. Since he had entered the arena I had been riling him but he was too professional to let his emotions cloud his judgement. I angered him, and instead of losing nerve he sent out his strongest and best pokemon.

A pokemon that was ground and rock type. A pokemon that would be immune to Pikachu's attacks.

Which was exactly what I wanted.

I wanted to laugh out loud but couldn't, to win, I still needed to play my part. The moment I saw Brock's team on my dex I knew this was not something Pikachu could go up against. Pikachu would lose against any one of his team members.

Which meant that in order to win this match, Red needed to battle against Brock. Red, not Pikachu.

I remembered the receptionist's unknowingly helpful words.

 _Brock hates overconfidence the most._

My plan was to play the overconfident, stupid young trainer. Brock would no doubt then want to crush me without room for mistake. So, he would send the most advantageous pokemon from his roster against a pikachu.

His aerodactyl, kabutops, and omastar were all conductive and weak against electricity. I had no doubt that they could win against Pikachu with their years of experience, but sending them out would undermine Brock's point of proving me I was unprepared for battle. So that left his golem, rhyperior, and onix. And onix was his best, so why would he settle for less?

And Blue thought humans weren't boring. Acting exactly as I had predicted, Brock greatly increased my slim chance of walking out of here with a badge.

After all, no one could be prepared in six days for any possible pokemon out of a six-team roster. But six days were more than enough to prepare against a single onix, provided Brock used his. Which after careful goading, he did.

All this went through my mind in a second as I made the face of a frightened boy. Pikachu seeing this lunged forward, but I grabbed his tail pulling him back. Brock openly snickered.

"You cannot back down now Trainer Red!" the aide yelled to his mike. "Release a pokemon!"

I hastily threw a pokeball. The capsule opened and the red light poured out materializing into a beautiful butterfree.

The aide, obviously holding back his laughter, announced my choice. "Red's choice will be his butterfree!"

Brock's face darkened. He probably hoped to only kill one pokemon, my pikachu. Now this reckless trainer - me - was endangering a second one. Nevertheless, Brock didn't hesitate when he whistled a command.

Diamondback roared again, its voice pushing my butterfree a distance, and then lunged. I was prepared however. The butterfree hovered high in the arena, seemingly safe and above from the onix's reach.

Seemingly.

After another high-pitched whistle Diamondback coiled its body tight directly under my butterfree. Almost as fast as thought it jumped upwards, jaw snapping.

Luckily, my butterfree was literally as fast as thought.

I liked bug pokemon. They were easy to train and most of them had limited psychic capabilities. In the six days I had to prepare for this match, my metapod had shed its skin and evolved, the first thing it saw being me. Establishing myself as its superior, as a sort of hive overlord, I built a small, limited psychic link with it so that it would react to my thoughts.

My thoughts which told it to get the hell away from Diamondback's target area.

Disappointed, Diamondback crushingly landed. The deafening noise broke my butterfree's link with me, and for a moment, I truly felt scared, but then we were back. I still kept my face's horrified expression.

Diamondback tried - and missed - the same tactic again. Then came another whistle from Brock.

I did not like the look on Brock. He was now eyeing me questionably. I had tried my best to make it seem as the last two dodges were sheer luck, but I felt like he was wondering if it truly was.

Terrifyingly intuitive these leaders.

This time Diamondback raised his large tail once and slammed it hard against the gym floor. The tiles cracked. He repeated the action. Again. And again.

 _What's he doing- oh no._

Diamondback swept its large tail at the considerably large amount of piled up rubble - directly upwards.

Debris rose in the air blindingly fast, and I felt the mental exhaustion as I gave directions -up! -left! -turn! Butterfree managed to avoid the larger pieces. The smaller ones I could not track with my eye, so I screamed when I felt something tear through one of butterfree's wings. The pain broke our mental link and butterfree was alone.

Brock no doubt heard my scream and immediately understood his later suspicions were correct; if I had a psychic link with butterfree, I couldn't be some unprepared trainer. I wasn't a frightened kid who threw a butterfree to save his pikachu, all my acts had been deliberate. He looked me directly with newfound interest.

 _Gig's up. Was good while it lasted._

I dropped my scared child mask and put my poker face on. I straightened up instead of crouching. I hit the recall signal. Butterfree was injured but it was neither fatal nor hindering as he was fluttering about while I called him back to his ball.

The announcer's voice came "Trainer Red has recalled his butterfree!"

Pikachu looked up at me. I nodded.

"Trainer Red's second pokemon will be his pikachu!"

In the now broken arena Pikachu kept his distance from Diamondback. The huge snake tried focusing on him but seemed unable to as Pikachu jumped from ruin to ruin using his superior agility.

Brock gave another whistle. I gritted my teeth. This was it.

I tapped my microphone, and Pikachu stopped. Diamondback turned towards him, lunged, and... Missed by a large width.

The spectators and the aide were in shock. Brock's eyebrows rose. I however laughed heartily.

 _We got this._

I tapped again and Pikachu began charging towards Diamondback. He quickly but lightly tapped the onix's fallen head, the careful eye being able to catch a small flash of electric surge at the moment of contact. Barely avoiding the giant blade protruding from Diamondback's forehead, Pikachu backed up again and held still.

Diamondback rose and attacked head first again. This time he missed by an even larger margin. The moment his head hit ground, Pikachu again gently tapped it and ran back.

Our cat and mouse game continued twice more. Twice the giant snake attacked my Pikachu who didn't even attempt to dodge. Twice he missed by great distances. Twice my Pikachu patted him on the head.

The fourth time the head rose the giant snake's body spasmed hard. He seemed to be twitching all over. I admired his willpower as he tried one last tackle, but both Pikachu and I knew it was over. Mid-way he was hit by an even harder spasm. Finally, his upper body fell down with a crash, and Diamondback could not move again.

The red light swallowed him.

The gym was silent.

"Challenger Red has won the match."

It was Brock rather than the aide who spoke those words through the loudspeaker. After the announcement, the gym still remained silent.

Pikachu ran back at me and took his usual place on my shoulders. He wasn't even slightly injured. I gave a curt node towards Brock and left the arena.

My head held high.

))(())((

"Parafusion?"

After the match Pikachu and I were admitted to a small office room to receive the Boulder Badge. I had expected some league bureaucrat ready to handle the paperwork. Certainly not Leader Brock himself seated across, waiting for me.

"Well?" Brock repeated his question.

I nodded.

Parafusion was one of the most common strategies in league battling. It was a simple, yet extremely effective way of crippling larger pokemon. The word itself was a hint at how it worked, "paralysis" and "confusion".

Basically, by either using electric attacks or spores that had the same effect, you would paralyze your opponent's pokemon. Nerves would burn and the slightest movement would induce pain.

Still, paralysis by itself would never win a match. Some pokemon soldiered on and ignored their pain, making them still capable of dealing damage. That was where the confusion part came in. By using psychic attacks, you could make your opponent dizzy or see double. Most of the time the confused pokemon would damage itself by lashing out and crashing, instead of focusing on its opponent.

Neither paralysis nor confusion alone would be enough to finish off a pokemon. But when used together, parafusion took down mountains.

When I guessed what pokemon Brock would use against me, this was my choice of strategy. I expected metapod to evolve soon, so I had a pokemon with psychic potential in the bag. All the while butterfree was up against Diamondback, it was secretly secreting confusing powders and launching mental attacks, playing tricks on the onix's mind that would have short term effects. That was why Diamondback was unable to hit Pikachu, he probably saw him further away than where he actually was.

Next came overcoming the biggest flaw of this plan. The safer way to paralyze pokemon was by attacking at a distance. Diamondback however was an onix, part ground type, and supported its kind's trademark thick hide that prevented almost all electric based attacks from causing damage. It was impossible for Pikachu to harm Diamondback by sending thunderbolts and lightnings his way. We needed a subtler method.

Which was Pikachu straight up making contact and bringing the thunder directly.

Each time Pikachu tapped on Diamondback's head, he activated his static, defensive fur. When he touched Diamondback directly, without air in the way a medium, he achieved what would have been impossible from afar: He paralyzed an onix. And thanks to butterfree's earlier meddling with Diamondback's mind, Pikachu was relatively safe the times he approached a head at least thrice his size and had a giant blade attached.

It showed what a monster Diamondback was when he managed to come up four times to attack with his mind confused and body damaged. Most mons would have crippled after Pikachu's first contact.

Still, I would bet he'd have at least two more attacks in him if he had used his tail more instead of diving head first.

The key note to winning this match was Brock. I was sure Brock had trained his onix to resist psychic manipulation, so I had to throw his guard off. That was why before the match I acted as if I was a rookie trainer and flaunted Pikachu around. I wanted him to think me incapable of strategy and not order his onix's mental guards up.

A bit contradictory, I knew. On one hand I wanted Brock fully prepared to face off against me, but only against a pokemon of my choosing, against Pikachu. He acted as I predicted and sent his most advantageous mon against Pikachu, but I surprised him by sending a butterfree under the guise of "saving my starter from slaughter".

In other words, Brock lost this match because he forgot a golden rule of battling: Expect the unexpected.

Which was probably what he was thinking as his face grimaced after I confirmed his suspicions.

"You certainly managed to trick me." He grumbled. "And you certainly earned this."

He handed me the small grey badge. I took it in my hand and held it for a moment. _Seven more to go._

"It is only symbolic of course so don't worry if you lose it. If you give me your trainer card I will use it to electronically update our system and- But you probably know all this don't you?"

I did. Badges handed out were only trophies, the real deal was the update of your trainer status in the league system. This way at the gates of Victory Road instead of showing small, easily could-be-stolen stones, you just had to swipe your card and provide identification.

"Now." Brock continued - he didn't seem on letting me go easily. "Allow me to give some advice. And an offer."

I stared.

"The thing is I do not think you worthy of this badge. Not that you didn't earn it." He quickly added seeing the look on my face. "But because your trick will never work a second time - a video of this match has been uploaded on the league system. Every further leader you wish to challenge will now know not to underestimate you as I have. You yourself probably know you did not defeat me through the strength of your team, only through good psycho-analysis and theatrics."

He silently dared me to challenge otherwise, but I kept quiet. "I do not know your goals. I do not care for them. But I assume you will continue to challenge the closest gym near. And if you challenge another leader as hastily as you challenged me, you will lose."

He paused a moment. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "I admit I made mistakes battling you. I admit you played me well. I also admit that these mind games between trainers are an essential part of battling. But that's the thing. These tricks, today they were the only play you had. You had no back up plan and were seriously under powered. Do you deny?"

I didn't, but I also wasn't going to admit this aloud.

He cleared his throat and began again in a gentler voice. "So here's my offer. You have won the badge, yes, but I want you to stay here in this gym. You are obviously an incredibly talented trainer, but you still have faults. Stay. Study. Grow. Let us teach you more. We would be honored to have you."

It was a good offer, except I had a goal and a time stamp on it. I did not have the luxury of spending months cramped up in a gym, no matter how beneficial it could be for me.

I shook my head sideways. Pikachu, sensing we were about to leave, took his place on my shoulder. I stood up. So did Brock.

"Very well, Trainer Red." Hesitating, he offered his hand. "I have to warn you, my mistake or not, taking down a leader in a mere twenty-three days after graduating, it's never been heard of. You might receive, eh, judging from your silent disposition, some unwanted media attention. I suggest you take the back exit to the gym, ask Darcy at reception."

Thankful, I reached out mine, and we shook hands.

"May I ask one last question Trainer Red? Perhaps a private one?"

 _Why not_ , I thought. Brock had been generally nice and it wasn't like I had to answer. I nodded.

"Red is not your real name, is it?"

I shook my head.

"I see." He looked thoughtful for a moment. Finally, he bid me farewell with a "safe travels".

))(())((

I had left butterfree in care of the nurses at the pokecenter and was now lying on my motel bed holding my first badge high. I played with the lights it made as the sun set outside my window. Pikachu was sleeping soundly near me. He hadn't shown while we were at the gym, but six days of intense training coupled with today's match had brought him to exhaustion.

The events of the days were racing through my mind, but I was mostly hung up on Brock's words after the match. _If you challenge another leader as hastily as you challenged me, you will lose._

Grunting, I rolled to my side allowing my arm to fall. He was right of course. Then again, the next badge I planned was in Cerulean City, and its leader Misty was known as an expert of water types. Pikachu would have a natural advantage over her chosen type and I hoped it would be enough.

Thinking of Pikachu made me realize I was thinking of him in capital letters more and more of often. When had that begun? Curious, I leaned on my side to look at Pikachu.

I began gathering my thoughts. Pikachu were timid, fast pokemon that would rather avoid danger than confront it. They usually used their deadly high voltage attacks only when threatened. Yet mine shocked me the first day we met. He physically went toe to toe with first the zigzagoon, then the mankey I caught. He didn't even flinch today as he charged an onix. All these were very uncharacteristic of a pikachu.

A Pikachu among pikachu. A Pikachu that would constantly redefine its species' capabilities. A Pikachu that wanted to be constantly seen, not hidden in some ball.

 _One who maybe wants to rise above his species_ , I allowed myself to think.

Just like me.

I whispered. "You win. Again. You don't need a name."

In his sleep, Pikachu twitched.

"You are the name. You will continue to break through your naturally set barriers. And when you and me finally do it, when we become champions, people will know. They will know the difference between Pikachu and pikachu."

Just like they would know the difference between me and them.

The hand I was holding my badge with felt slightly numb. I opened my fist to realize, lost in my intense thoughts I had squeezed too hard. The sharp edges of the badge had cut my hand and I was now bleeding.

I stood up and headed to the bathroom to wash my hands. _Blood, it always comes to blood..._

I watched absent minded as the flowing water turned red.

))(())((

We checked out early morning. The receptionist kept staring.

"What?" I finally snapped. Pikachu's fur crackled - I noticed he kept doing that when he wanted to issue a warning.

"No- Nothing. It's just that..." The boy who was about my age leaned forward. "You just can't be Trainer Red? Can you?"

Horrified, I looked at him. How the hell-

"Brock's our leader. Not many have defeated him here. Word goes around." He looked awe stricken. "It is you, isn't it?"

I took out half of my earnings from my victory and dropped them on the counter.

The boy looked up to me then to the money. Slowly, he took it. "You should put that pikachu in a ball if you don't want to be recognized," he said.

Like I hadn't tried. Genius, this boy.

"Also, you should hide your face. A photo was on the local news late last night."

I cursed inwardly. Attention was Blue's thing, not mine. To me, attention was a bore.

Pikachu and I left and made our way towards the docks. I was hoping I could find a ferry that would take me to Cerulean.

What I found was hysteria.

A crowd was gathered in front of a lone female officer who was trying to make her voice heard over the yelling people. After a few tries she finally gave up and threw several pokeballs up in the air.

The crowd pulled back and silenced.

Not that I blamed them.

The houndoom was growling low but loud. Its head was high, mouth wide open, showing its sharp canine teeth. Smoke came out of its mouth as a tongue of flame licked its lips. Its body was tense, muscles easily strained and visible, it was ready to strike on command.

In contrast to the growling, threatening houndoom, the absol was quiet in an almost dignified matter. Yet I knew what scared the people more than the houndoom was this beast, many dark pokemon were victims of superstition, but absol had gotten the worst end of it. A call for disaster, that was the common people's opinion of absol. And this one, terrifyingly beautiful, lowering its head and showcasing its single horn, seemed not intend on proving them wrong.

The honchkrow was large enough for the woman to climb. It hovered above us, and the woman spoke, her voice clearly audible this time.

"As I was saying..." The woman's voice was surprisingly cheerful. "The river road is closed until further notice." The crowd began murmuring again so she continued before it got too loud. "This is for your own safety people. And don't try to sneak through. Officers are guarding the riverbank all the way, and rangers are patrolling the waters."

"Why?" a brave soul yelled but was completely ignored by the woman.

"I am here to oversee this operation so no one gets hurt." She continued but was interrupted when someone yelled he was awaiting shipments today. This caused a stir in the crowd as cries of lost money and jobs could be heard.

"The league," the woman said, "will naturally compensate your losses." This calmed the crowd a little but I was nailed still.

I finally understood who this woman was, speaking so freely on behalf of the league and wielding three dark pokemon.

Karen of the Elite Four.

Why, why was she here? What could have possibly happened that made one of the four leave the Plateau? I dimly remembered reading the last time this happened, more than a decade ago something called "The Cinnabar Massacres"; where a Gym Leader and several scientists had been murdered, and the culprits had escaped. If the situation here was as serious as it was back then, I suspected the river would be off limits for at least a few days, maybe even weeks.

At a distance I saw Brock riding his rhyperior getting near. Karen apparently saw this too, and she swooped down near him. They began whispering frantically and I saw Brock nodding.

Deciding whatever happening was way above my pay grade, I turned my back and wandered randomly in the city. Albeit, I was frustrated. With the river closed, my ways of reaching Cerulean were limited. I checked my savings, hoping it would be enough for paying someone to fly, teleport, or shadow me, but I doubted it. Flying pokemon were extremely expensive to rent and usually required a three-badge license. Teleportation costed even more and had a booking duration that lasted days. And finally, I suspected I wouldn't be able to find a dark or ghost type trainer capable enough to shadow me alongside.

I frowned after counting my money. Everything I had would be barely enough to rent a pidgeot to Cerulean, but I wouldn't be able to pay the challengers fee when I got to the gym. I briefly considered avoiding the officers by the docks and stealing a boat, yet I had no idea how to captain one. Training a water pokemon to surf me up would take too much time, and I seriously doubted they would let me just swim while this operation was ongoing.

Sighing and out of options, I sat on an onix shaped bench. If I was lucky, this mess would resolve itself quickly and I would be on my way soon. If not, I had to change my entire planned course. Lost in thought, I watched Pikachu chasing pidgey gathered around a statue centered in the city square. The statue was of a faceless mine worker and his nosepass. The man had a pickaxe strapped over his shoulder and was wheeling a cart full of gems. The nosepass was in front of him, obviously leading the way. On the base of the statue was some writing I could not make out.

Curious now, I walked up to it. There read in golden capital letters the city slogan "We Push Through", symbolizing the centuries of struggle Pewterians gave and won against their hostile environment.

 _We push through..._

My eyes opened wide. Pikachu stopped clowning and stood near me, glancing at the statue and unaware of the inspiration it gave me.

I straightened up and tried looking towards the horizon but the buildings cut my view. Nevertheless, I knew it was there.

I couldn't fly over the mountains to Cerulean. I couldn't go around them on water.

But what I could do was go through them.

A sudden chill rushed me as I felt the ever-looming shadow of Mt. Moon fall upon the city.

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **I know most of you are thinking "yeaaah we got another aim for the horn situation here, there's no way a pikachu can shock yet alone paralyze a ground type like onix". Well, veterans among you will know that despite the immunity ground types have to electric attacks, abilities such as static can still paralyze them, meaning if a static pikachu made contact with a ground type, it would be paralyzed. Blame the system, not me.**

 **Parafusion is an actual tactic in the games. The opposing pokemon will hit itself 50% of the time due to confusion, and 25% percent of the time it will be fully paralyzed. Meaning the opponent will only have an approximate 37% chance of attacking, plus the 50% speed drop. One of my favorite strategies among paraflinching - look it up and despair. It will make you see the cuddly cute togekiss in an entirely different light.**

 **Next update: Week of December 4th.**


	5. Chapter 4: Frickin' Zubats

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER FOUR

Frickin' Zubat:

"Good fish, boy, good fish, nice fish! You'll thank me in there boy, come on now, only thousand credits!"

I sighed and turned my back. He kept shouting behind me. "Tough customer, I like that, I like that! Five hundred for you boy, only five hundred!"

This was the last piece of civilization I would encounter before entering the tunnels. I had hitchhiked my way up, near to the beginning of the tunnel road where a sort of makeshift pokecenter was established by frequenters. It was sort of like a small, open air bazaar. Hiking enthusiasts traded equipment, and small stall owners tried selling to tired tourists, like the magikarp salesman who kept going on how nutritious and easy to prepare these fish were.

I checked my gear one last time: Silcoon silk weaved ropes, fully charged pokedex, oiled torches and flint to light them, packed berries and bottles of water... All seemed to be satisfactory. What I treasured the most was a pair of hiking shoes. It costed me a small fortune, but it was definitely worth it. My old pair was too worn out after about twenty days of journeying.

My mankey was currently carrying all my equipment in a duffel bag up in his arms. He seemed to be grunting a lot - my guess, protesting this demeaning task - but Pikachu kept a close eye on him, his cheeks sparkling every time the mankey seemed about to ditch me and run away. I ignored his complaints. The mankey was stronger than me, and I needed to keep my strength.

With only a quarter of my savings left, I wanted to buy a nosepass. These pokemon were extremely useful underground, their large noses pointed north instinctively when relaxed, making them excellent natural compasses. _It'll be easy to find a seller here_ , I thought, just as I heard a hiker boasting about his nosepass saving his life when once lost in the woods.

"It pains me to part with her," he explained to those listening. "But I'm too old for travelling anymore, and she's a born voyager, this one! It would hurt me to keep her locked in our home and- you! Boy! Want a nosepass?" he addressed, seeing me interested.

I nodded. He grinned with an open mouth. "Well you're in luck boy! Old Poka and me here have history, but I'm willing to part with her for the reasonable price of-"

I held my hand high and stopped him. I pointed at the pokeball hanging from his belt. He seemed a bit abashed as he freed the ball from its hold. "Ah, I see, smart trainer! Wanting to check the merchandise, right?" he said. "Well come on out Poka and meet this dashing gentleman!"

The red light materialized, and I was greeted by the oldest, most worn out pokemon I had ever seen. Poka was entirely chalk white with age and parts of her rocky hide were chipped largely. She moved slowly as she raised her body to look at me with blind eyes, then just fell on her back. She rolled on her sides struggling to get up until I reached down and pulled her up. She felt cold and hard.

"Ha ha, such a joker Poka!" The hiker nervously laughed. "As I was saying, do we have a deal for, umm, let's say-" He was interrupted once again as I released my butterfree. I wasn't done with my investigation. Truth be told, I didn't care how Poka looked, only if her magnetic brain still worked. With a silent command, my butterfree began fluttering above and dusting sleep powders down his wings on Poka. This attracted a small crowd of onlookers.

The hiker was red with anger. "What the hell are you doing brat-" He stopped short when Poka suddenly sat down on her bottom end and whirled around herself until she stopped, with her gigantic nose pointing, I checked the map function on my dex, north. She was snoring lightly.

"Huh" was the only noise her seller made. I faced him and took out of my wallet the maximum amount I could afford. He counted the credits and shook his head.

"No way. No way kid. I am not going to sell her this cheap. In fact, I don't think I'm going to even sell to you. What are you a mute, attacking out of the blue and..." He lost words as Pikachu jumped in front of me, his fur crackling threateningly. The hiker's face hardened, and his hand went to his belt to another ball.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Doug," one of the onlookers cried. "I think I know this kid. You're Red, aren't cha?" he asked me directly. I didn't answer.

"See Doug, this kid just took down Brock. In battle. With that free and chu of his. Defeated Diamondback."

A gasp could be heard among the crowd and Doug went white.

"So, if I were you, I'd take this guy's money and be lucky I got out so easily with insulting him and all."

I locked my eyes directly on Doug. He stammered but didn't give way.

"I don't care if he's fucking Champion Lance," he bravely said. "There are laws for this kind of things, trainers can't just bully and, and, and I'm not selling Poka for that price, and that's it!" With his rising temper, his face regained its color.

"Tell you what, Red, was it?" another stall owner came near. "Doug's an asshole but he's kinda right, that much right there is too cheap for such a useful mon round here, even if it's as washed out as this one is." He pointed Poka. "But being as washed out as it is, Dougy here is probably the cheapest seller right now. And I'm guessing you would have one sooner than later."

I nodded without diverting my eyes from Doug. Pikachu still stood menacingly in front of me. The elderly stall owner cleared his throat and continued. "So, here's my offer: You trade me that butterfree of yours and I'll buy you old Poka - you can keep your money."

Surprised, I turned towards him. He gave me a toothless smile. "I promise I'll treat him well - a gift for my grandson. He's an aspiring bug catcher and, well, a bug mon that helped defeating Brock, it would make his day."

"Don't be stupid kid!" someone else called. "That free is worth much more if it took Diamondback down! I'll give you-"

"No, wait, hear me-"

And suddenly everyone was giving me offers for my butterfree.

As the mayhem grew around me, I silently considered my options. I never planned on keeping the butterfree on my roster long, he was too weak for the upcoming league matches. Besides, with the small life span of his species, I didn't think he could even make it to the Championship. But we had history. He had helped me topple Diamondback over, and I didn't want to sell him off just because his usefulness was over, like I did with my zigzagoon and venonat. I had planned on setting him free near Cerulean Cape once I reached Cerulean, imagining he would like it there. But I really was out of options, without a nosepass it would be impossible to find my way in the tunnels.

I glanced in the eyes of the first man who gave an offer and made my decision. Pikachu let a bolt loose in the air and everyone quieted.

I called butterfree to his ball and gave it to the old man. He looked surprised when he asked, "You sure? There are a lot of good offers I can't match and-"

"Better in the hands of your grandson than these leeches." I surprisingly realized I just started a conversation with a person for the first time since I left Pallet - hadn't even spoken aloud with Brock. "May he help your grandson well on his journey."

The man gave his toothless smile and nodded. Then he turned to Doug. "Alright now Douglas give me your price - and don't fucking try to skim me, I've been working these mountains long before you were born."

After a small duration of haggling, I was on my way, hiking up. My mankey trailed behind me carrying my bag, with Pikachu near keeping close watch. Poka was in her pokeball clipped to my belt. My heart felt light. I was happy to be moving again and glad the way things were handled with butterfree. I carried hope that he would be happy with his new owner.

I climbed the final hill and in front of me stood Mt. Moon in all its glory; the lush green at its base giving way to first rocky grey, then snow white as I tried looking for a peak that was lost among clouds.

The ancient Pewterians used to believe that this mountain was a god, and how could they not? It was unconquerable and terrifying, its forests and caves sheltered the very beasts that preyed on humans, and the roars echoing from its valleys scared the people to the bone. Yet it was also a benevolent god, as much as it took, it also gave, with the river that sourced from its heights, feeding their crops, and the valuable stones it birthed, of which they built their homes and weapons, and traded with. From its peak rose the greatest sources of light to those ancient, the sun and moon, which was believed to be the same entity with two different aspects. That belief led to the great mountain's original name, simply translated as "home of the sun and moon", and to today its simplified version as "Mt. Moon".

Eventually I broke my gaze. I gritted my teeth and powered through the last remaining distance to the tunnel's entrance at the base of the mountain.

Today, Mt. Moon did not celebrate the glory it used to have. After the Pewterians grew in numbers and began training pokemon, places that used to be too dangerous to travel before, weren't as much anymore. It took courage, time, and necessity, but the people began moving against their god in search of more resources. While rangers and trainers held the monsters back, years and years of mining eventually hallowed out the great mountain, so much that a dwindling tunnel road that reached all the way from Pewter to Cerulean came to existence. For a brief period in history this road was used for commerce between Cerulean and Pewter, but after the river road was established, traders began preferring the water to ship goods rather than drag them all the way through the dark, underground tunnel.

And so Mt. Moon lost its importance, especially once its evolutionary stone mines were completely depleted. Less and less people began working this particular mountain, and finally the tunnel road was shut down, the frequent cave-ins and wild making it too dangerous for commoners. Furthermore, the once simple tunnel was nowadays more like a maze, with onix, diglett, and dugtrio randomly continuing the tunneling job that man had abandoned.

I finally reached the tunnel entrance. A ranger guarded the cave, his hitmonlee stood next to him, comically leaning on one side of its springy legs and then the other. As I approached, the ranger's hands went to his belt touching two more hidden pokeballs, but otherwise he remained the same.

"Evenin," he greeted me. "What brings ya out here? Afraid this place is closed off to travelers."

I took out my trainer's card and gave it to him. He took out his dex and checked my credentials.

"Trainer Red, one badge, won from Brock by combat - wow how'd ya defeat Brock?" he muttered to himself. "Still I'm gonna have to ask ya to state ya business here."

My eyebrows rose. I knew that the road was closed off, but a trainer's license allowed access to places where others could not enter. Furthermore, I already had one badge clearance, and despite its dangers, Mt. Moon was no Safari or Mt. Silver - places of omega level risk where one needed multiple amount of badges to enter. I decided to play nice with this trainer, if he was going to be pushy, I couldn't afford pissing him off and him denying me entrance.

Feeling the hitmonlee eyeing me sideways, I spoke up, "Just training. Heard some mean mons were there. Wanted to train a zubat for Celadon gym."

He snorted. "Well if that's all ya're lookin for ya'll be out in a second. Millions of em bloodsuckers in there." He wrinkled his nose. "Go through kid, but if ya don't come out till it darkens, gonna have to report ya."

"Why?" I couldn't help myself. "It's not illegal to explore, is it?"

"Just get out before dark," he said shortly, ending the conversation. I shrugged my soldiers and continued in.

The air was cool and breathable, but I knew that wouldn't last long. I called the mankey back to its ball and took my bag myself - couldn't afford at this point him running off with my stuff. Pikachu was next to me in the silence as we walked further and further. The light began to go dimmer and soon it was too dark to see.

"What do you say?" I asked Pikachu as I took out a torch. "Is it safe to light it?"

Pikachu sniffed the air, then gave a small cry I thought of as yes.

I lit the torch and we continued deeper. The air was getting still and stuffier now. I was sweating like crazy despite the chill. Soon we reached our first split. On one side the road seemed to be going deeper down, while on the other it took a slight slope upwards. I had no idea which was right, so I took out Poka.

Poka was still asleep, which was actually good for me. She whirled around herself until her nose settled in a fixed direction. Judging that way to be north and knowing that I had to head east, I took the path leading downwards which seemed to be closer to my destination. Before leaving, I called Poka back and marked this point with a marker.

The road was getting more devilish now. Thrice more we encountered splits, and the tunnel once separated into three, and then four different routes. One time I even had to backtrack my steps because the road I had picked led to a dead end. Tired of constantly releasing and recalling her at every stop, I released Poka and woke her up. She now waddled behind and followed Pikachu and me.

Finally, we reached a large enough cavern and I decided to make camp. I called Poka back and marked the last place she showed as north in case she... Well, I didn't want to say _died_ , but she was old, and she did exercise a lot today. Then again, rock pokemon measured age vastly different compared to us humans.

I checked the time and location on my pokedex. These being uncharted territories it didn't give me an exact position but it was enough to make an estimation for the rest of our journey. I then shut my dex wanting to save battery. After setting my sleeping bag, I laid in it and killed the torch light, I needed to preserve each and every one of my resources. In the dark, Pikachu let his fur charge with electricity, giving a slight glow enough for me to find my berry case. Still lying down, I opened it and began feeding Pikachu. As I fed him, I began my nightly ramblings with him that sort of became a tradition between us.

"We did good today. Lost our track for a moment but found it back quick," I muttered as I scratched his ears. "Right now outside it's midnight - can you believe it's still the same day we saw an Elite Four member in the morning? Talk about luck. You don't get to see one of them just every day you know. Wonder if she handled whatever crisis she came to handle. Probably not though. I read that the last time this happened there were multiple murders, and the search for killers took weeks, yet the killers still escaped. Crazy, right?"

Pikachu gave a quiet burp.

"As I was saying," I continued, ignoring his rude interruption. "We probably made the right decision coming here. The ferry makes multiple stops and takes a week to reach Cerulean. Because of the league operation, the docks in Pewter will probably stay closed till at least next week. Adding them together it would have taken two weeks. At best. This way however, if Poka here is leading us right, we should see light again in about nine days. Plus the added benefit of exercise and battling zubat. Fun."

Pikachu gave a groan. My lips curled, today he had zapped endless curious zubat and one golbat that were attracted to the heat of our bodies. I was glad that was all we had encountered though. I wasn't sure we could survive a ground type like a rhyhorn or graveler.

"Think that ranger is pissed we didn't come out yet? Hah. He should be. 'Get out before dark or I'll report', what's he going to report? We aren't doing anything illegal. I'm pretty sure a trainer's license covers our clearance. Plus we have a badge. That ought to count for something."

I yawned loudly. Mimicking me, Pikachu yawned too.

"Alright, let's get some sleep and hope we don't get eaten or something."

Pikachu gave a gurgling sound I assumed was a giggle.

))(())((

I would like to say that we kept the optimistic mood of our first day inside Mt. Moon with us for the following days, but it would be a lie. No matter how strong our nerves; the endless dark, shrieking zubat, and roars coming from afar, reminding me too much of Diamondback, strained us to our limits. We weren't just walking anymore, sometimes we had to climb steep walls or dive down caverns using our ropes. I had to use the knowledge imparted to me during training school to the furthest, but still no theoretical or practical test could have prepared me to this actual thing. My hands, knees, and elbows were bruised, blistered, and constantly bleeding. My feet always ached. Still, I was happy to see my sneakers held on. I wouldn't want to continue bare feet.

Pikachu too was in no better shape than me. He was particularly grouchy because striking all those zubat was depleting his electric charge. Running on limits, he no longer bothered with electric attacks, just tried jumping up and snapping his jaw when a zubat would swoop down. He did though once send a moderately large thunderbolt after the mankey, once the mankey tried escaping again.

My mankey was another issue. I knew training fighting types was hard. You always had to show them you were in charge, and if they even sensed a small amount of weakness, they took their chance to either bail on or assault you. I had to take him out sometimes so he could carry some of our stuff when we needed climbing, but seeing as we were physically not at our prime, he began taking more risks trying to free himself from us. I imagined he also hated the caves, mankey were forest and tree pokemon.

The only one of us who was the same was Poka. Aside from occasionally gnawing on pebbles, she kept her daily routine of walking, sleeping, and pointing north. Perhaps childish, but seeing her so tireless and expressionless made Pikachu and me envious and irritated. _Such a boring mon_ , I thought as I swore to myself I would never train a rock pokemon.

It was our eighth 'night', aside from the dex, it was impossible to tell, that the battery on my pokedex failed. I groaned loudly as I set my sleeping bag. Before my dex shut down, I briefly saw that we were slightly off track, and my nine days guess was wrong, it would take an extra day for us to get out of this mountain.

"What's ten compared to nine, right?" I asked Pikachu sarcastically. He didn't even bother gesturing an answer and just collapsed where he stood. I followed him shortly.

))(())((

It was only a few hours later when I woke up. My senses were alert and my body was tense. I could hear Pikachu near me growling. I did not know what was about to happen, but having been in here for eight days I had learned to trust my gut.

"I need to see," I whispered and Pikachu flashed enough for me to reach a remaining torch and light it. I stood up, and with one hand I held the torch forward as a weapon while with my other I grasped a rock. I also set the mankey loose. The fact that he didn't run and stood his ground with us made me more nervous. He had probably guessed whatever was coming, he had higher chances of surviving with us. I also thought of setting Poka loose, but decided against it. If she died in battle, we would be lost here forever.

Noises could be heard. First high-pitched shrieks, then the fluttering of wings. I braced myself. Pikachu crackled under me.

The headache hit me first. I fell on my knees, dropping the stone and barely holding the torch. The shrieking grew louder and louder. Pikachu was holding his ears down, and the mankey was closing his with fists, crying in pain. I tried looking ahead but colors were mixed and the world was spinning. I barely made out what was happening.

Zubat. Also golbat. But even the never seen in wild crobat; large enough to pick up grown men, one of the fastest pokemon species in the world. A whole colony was on the move, thousands, maybe even millions heading towards us like a flood filling up the entire tunnel.

"Pikachu!" I cried out as I tried getting him under me. I dropped face down on my starter, and with my heavier bulk I managed to pin him against the floor and cover him with my body. Because of his superior senses, he was hit heavier than me by the confusing, high frequency waves the bats were defensively crying, I saw blood oozing out from his ears. I reached to the mankey, but panicked, he ran the opposite direction.

The first wave of bats passed over me, and I screamed as claws and fangs unintentionally tore into my back. Between my legs I saw the same bats picking up the on all fours running mankey and pulled him to pieces, midair.

 _Yet their focus is neither me nor the mankey_ , I barely thought as my synapses fried because of the non-ending high pitch noise. I could barely concentrate on my thoughts as another wave of bats flew over, each bat tearing a piece of my skin and flesh. _They are escaping something. We're just distractions._

The massive tide of the flying pokemon continued over me, and like the river current breaking any stone that hindered its path to pieces, so did this flow of bats rip my back apart. I didn't know how long it lasted. I was about to pass out, but fought against it knowing with this many open wounds, if I went out of it, I would definitely die from blood loss. _If I even have any blood left_. _And if the bats' poison doesn't kill me first._

The skin on my back was in tatters. Wings and claws crashed against it, again and again and again... I knew I was going to die and, oh, how I _wanted_ to die. _Anything to stop this torture._

Pikachu saved us. Sort of. He too was hurting and shivering because of the confuse rays the bats kept emitting, but his body was more or less intact, shielded by me. It took him many tries with his senses fried and all, but using his tail he finally managed to whip the pokeball remaining in my belt forwards. He touched with his nose the locking mechanism, and Poka stood in front of us.

Despite being old, Poka was still a rock type. A loyal and trained one too. She planted her feet and stood in front of us protectively, numerous zubat splattering on her hard behind and falling. Then, I guessed, she reached out with her mind to the ceiling above us. Her electromagnetic brain sent some signals, and maybe for the first time in years, she reestablished a connection with her roots of rock and stone. The cave made great noises, and the remaining bats increased their speed, but they were too late. In front of us, the ceiling collapsed, effectively sealing the tunnel and saving us from the onslaught of bats, meanwhile crushing the remaining colony.

Alas, all this was too much of a strain on old Poka's body. I barely saw her, I hurt so, so much, and I was crying and the tears blurred my vision. Pikachu crawled out under me and tried walking but passed out, too dizzy to move, which was probably for the best. He didn't get to see Poka's final moments as she slowly whirled around herself. Filled with the pride only a trainer's pokemon could feel, her nose pointed north one last time, and then she broke down into rubble.

 _No, no, no, dammit, no..._

Whole body trembling, I barely inched towards Poka's remains. Tears of sorrow replaced those of pain, but I didn't want to waste Poka's gift of life. I crawled what seemed to be an eternity towards my bag.

 _She saved us, dammit, dammit, she didn't deserve this, I need to get out of here, I need-_

 _Antidotes, I need antidotes, golbat are poisonous, golbat are blue, Blue-_

 _Mom-_

 _Mom, oh I'm sorry, the young always suffer._

 _-oh god I'm gonna die._

 _Help. Please._

 _Dad..._

I passed out.

))(())((

I woke up to moonlight.

 _Wait, that's impossible._

I tried standing up but slipped and fell. I took a breath and my lungs filled with water. Coughing and splattering, I tried reaching surface and realized the water wasn't that high, my feet touched the bottom. I heard a splash, then saw Pikachu swimming my way. He reached me, and I hugged him tight. His tongue licked my neck.

"I know buddy, I know, I was worried too." He took his place on my shoulder and I stood up.

 _Where are we?_

The only answer I could think of was paradise.

 _Beautiful._

We were in a waist deep pool, glowing green under what I had initially thought was moonlight. I was wrong but close, the light came not through the actual moon, but rather moon stones. The entire ceiling of this cavern was covered in these stones, shining their beams that had properties similar to moonlight.

I gasped as I continued gazing the ceiling. _How many are there? Millions? Billions?_ Any man who found this place would be rich beyond his dreams, moon stones were the rarest of all evolutionary stones, both trainers and scientists would pay small fortunes for a single one. They were the backbone of Pewter's economy with them being found only in these particular areas.

 _But how is this possible,_ I thought. _Mount Moon has no more resources left_.

Clearly, everyone was misinformed. But it still didn't explain how this reserve had remained hidden; with in the old days miners searching day and night for valuables, it was highly unlikely I had just stumbled in to a vein by chance.

 _Wait. How did I get here?_

I glanced at Pikachu who shrugged next to me. He too was clueless. Then I realized he looked better than I'd seen him the last couple of days. Curious, I now realized my own wounds were healed.

I felt multiple itches in the back of my mind, the early warning the human body gave to psychic attacks. I gave Pikachu a signal, and we both prepared our mental barriers up, tried to empty our minds, and got ready to act on instinct. Yet the minute our mysterious assailants sensed our psychic defenses up, the pressure disappeared.

I thought of our chances. Whoever these people were, they had helped us by bringing us here and healing us. I could sense they were definitely strong enough to break through our psyches, but they had pulled back once we had decided to defend ourselves. So they were neither violent nor confrontational.

Except this could have also been a trick to make us lower our guards. But they were already stronger than us, weren't they?

I sighed and let my defenses fall. Pikachu gave me a questioning look, but he too relaxed. Slowly, the mental pressure returned.

It wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling, but I held on, I was too curious to find out who our saviors were. The probing only lasted a few minutes, it seemed they only wanted to learn if we were enemies or not.

I heard slow chimes as if bells were ringing and a chorus was singing. Eyes began materializing in the shadows, and they came out to the light.

Clefairy. And clefable. Even tiny cleffa.

My jaw dropped. Almost no one ever saw these rare fairy type pokemon. All fairy pokemon were naturally defensive, I remembered watching a clip of Cynthia's togekiss tanking hits, but clefairy were the most elusive. With remarkable regenerative abilities, they were shy but strong pokemon. They used their mid-level psychic capabilities to sense and hide from enemies, and they released powerful beams if confronted. Scientists suspected these were concentrated moonlight their bodies stored. A theory was that if a clefairy stored enough moon power, it would evolve into a clefable.

 _Well_ , I thought, _that shouldn't be hard to happen here._

I understood the importance of this place now. This was a hidden sanctuary where clefairy came to evolve in peace. With all those years basked under the glow of moon stones and constantly visited by the fairies, the water itself was most likely mutated and had the same healing ability of the fairy pokemon, explaining Pikachu's and my recovery. Plus, this cavern was somewhere probably not only hard to reach physically, but also mentally, I suspected the collective psyche of the fairies constantly gave out hidden psychic suggestions, the likes of "go away", "ignore", "don't come"...

Which begged the question why they had brought me here when they could have let me die.

I saw a lone clefable step right in front of me, male, which made him even rarer. I stepped out of the water, just realizing I was naked and my stuff were missing. He was slightly shorter than me, so I crouched a little to look him in the eye.

 _Thank you_ , I tried thinking with more emotion than words for him to understand. I wanted him to sense my gratitude. And my curiosity. _But why?_

The answer was... complicated. My mind was flooded with images that I could not understand, being perceived by something so alien to mankind. Humans thought in symbols and words, but pokemon did not. Obviously smart and understanding my confusion, the clefable simplified its thoughts.

 _Help you, help us_ , were the words I would put to describe his thoughts. I nodded. I could work with this. They needed something from me, so they healed me. I hoped I could give it to them, because if not, I wasn't sure they would let me leave here alive. Pikachu and I were not enough to fight this many and my other pokemon were...

A lump sat at my throat. I tried burying the sorrow and feeling curiosity again. _How?_

An image of a trail, its meaning clear. _Follow._

We walked together. What I guessed was about an hour later, he brought me to a clearing with a small hole to its wall. I looked out of it.

Actually, I looked down of it. Inside this labyrinth of tunnels, where we were now, was one of the higher levels. Down was the largest cavern I had ever seen.

Boom.

An explosion shook our cave and I almost fell. When the next explosion came I was ready and stood my ground.

Down, there were lights. And men. Lots of men. Men in white lab coats running around small tents. Men in worker's uniforms digging. Men using electrodes to blow up chunks of rocks. Men carrying guns and dangerous pokemon, pokemon like ursaring and machamp. Pokemon like graveler were also down, carrying and dragging carts full of gems.

We were high, but not that far from them. I could only guess that the reason we weren't spotted was the clefairy's collective mental influence. Yet how long could that last? How long had it been lasting?

I knew what this was the minute I saw it. This was an illegal mining operation. These people were digging up and smuggling moon stones, blowing up caverns in constant search for more. How long would it take for them to find the clefairy's hidden sanctuary?

Not only that, the constant explosions were disrupting the natural ecosystem, which probably scared the bat colony enough to migrate and...

I felt the lump in my throat let its place go to rage. These people here, these... terrorists, these villains were the reason my team was dead.

 _Mankey. Poka..._

I stared directly into the clefable's eyes. Pikachu was sparkling with charge.

 _Let's end them._

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **Not much to say about this one. A small reference to the magikarp salesman in the games. Also to the shoes the player gets after entering Kanto Route 3.**

 **Not sure how many of you know, the games and its remakes have an event where hidden clefairy come out during the night and dance around a hidden lake that is centered around a hidden moon stone in a hidden part of Mt. Moon. I guess that's kind of also in this chapter.**

 **Despite being ugly, nosepass is one of my favorite pokemon. Don't care if you don't see the charm of a giant nose.**

 **I kill myself with my chapter titles, "Frickin' Zubat", heh. I'd bet "frickin" was the least offensive adjective players used if they ran out of repels in Mt. Moon.**

 **Next update: Week of December 11th.**


	6. Chapter 5: My Name is Red

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER FIVE

My Name is Red:

 _Stop it_ , I thought towards the clefairy gently nudging me on the side.

She stopped but looked troubled. I sighed and got up to leave from my observation point.

The past few... Days? Weeks? With my dex and other belongings gone, I had no way to tell. Anyway, I spent my time spying on our enemies closely and formulating plans to end them. The clefairy never left me alone, at least one of their kind was always with Pikachu and me, protecting us from being spotted with their mental invisibility.

I walked towards the underground spring that was the clefairy's headquarters and took a sip from the water. With all my resources gone, I was initially afraid that I would starve to death, but the mutated waters that healed my wounds had a heavy taste; full of minerals and Arceus knows what else, the miraculous fountain served to satisfy both my thirst and hunger.

I sat on a rock and the fairies gathered around me. Pikachu jumped in front of me and looked up expectantly.

"Here's what I know," I began addressing Pikachu. Trying to form my words in mental pictures so the clefairy could understand was too exhausting. Instead I spoke directly to Pikachu, who as a trained starter somewhat understood my words and as a pokemon was more successful in telegraphing mental messages to the clefairy. I only hoped not much was lost in this indirect way of communication.

"I counted forty miners, changing shifts twice what I assume is in a day. A quarter work on the explosions and the rest dig. They look well fed and strong, but other than pickaxes and shovels, I haven't seen weapons on them. There are four or five graveler that walk around dragging carts, but again I don't think they are battlers. They are there just for labor."

I took another sip of water to wet my throat. "I think there are about twenty guards. At least ten of them are trainers; I counted two ursaring, three machamp, and two poliwrath patrolling on regular intervals. Also the two yanmega flying above, I have no idea how you are shielding us from their senses."

 _Their roster is too good_ , I thought to myself. Yanmega were incredible pokemon, their near three-hundred-sixty-degree sight and six directional flying skills made them perfect scouts and surveillance systems. We were lucky that the collective psyche of the clefairy was enough to hide us from even them, but I was sure the bugs would detect us if we tried any kind of assault.

"The guards that do not have pokemon have either spears or crossbows. Two of them have guns directed towards the two main entrances of their cave. We're lucky that we are above them, an attack from the ceiling will surprise them."

Guns in the hands of grunts didn't trouble me that much, I was sure Pikachu could fry them before they even took aim. What concerned me more were the two leaders of these men. My brows rose in worry as I continued. "The real problem is the two captains - the woman with the arbok and the man with the weezing. These guys are good, probably near gym leader material. I'm assuming it's because of these two that you haven't stormed this camp with sheer numbers yet."

The clefairy around me gave an understanding hum.

 _Who are these two?_ I wondered. Judging from how they ordered their pokemon and the way they were obeyed, I knew that these two were seasoned soldiers. I once saw their pokebelts clearly, they had full, six-member teams. Together, these two held a total number of fully trained twelve pokemon, and with the support the rest of their men gave, it was impossible for me and the group of wild clefairy to win this fight. I shook my head and went on with my report.

"Other than these two, there is a four-person research team that keeps analyzing my dex and the stones the graveler bring in."

I was momentarily angry as I remembered the day one of their scouts had found and brought in my bag that survived the zubat. In an effort to identify me, their scientists had gone through my pokedex, but it wasn't easy to hack tech made by Professor Oak. Still, my unique dex had peaked the scientists' interest, and they had been working on it ever since. It physically pained me to know that these bandits held in their hands something the professor had trusted me with.

Swallowing my anger, I continued. "These scientists always have a kirlia with them, which I think is a means for quick escape via teleportation. We'll have to take the kirlia out first if we want to end this here and now."

"Their tents are centrally located in the cave. The mining operations continue around, and expand outwards from their base. One of the tents contains electrodes, we'll have to mind that one carefully to avoid a cave in. But near that tent is their hostage."

I grinned. I lucked up on that piece of information when I overheard two of the guards chatting about the "fossil freak hogging too much of their resources".

"Now if I'm right about this 'fossil freak'..." I hoped I was, otherwise we were doomed. "We might have a chance here to win this without lifting a finger. But we need stealth. And we need to act quick. Also we need to prepare a defense right here. Do you guys follow?"

Many pairs of eyes looked at me questioningly. _Great._

"Ok." I sighed. "Let me explain again..."

))(())((

The yanmega flew lazily in front of me. I was once again leering down the hole that separated our hideout from their camp. Pikachu was on my shoulders trembling, and the male clefable I met on my first day, who I later understood was some sort of pack leader to the fairies, was next to me.

My plan was... Not sane would be putting it politely. Like my match with Brock, it hanged on a lot of "ifs". Then again, I had actually won against Brock, so I could win here again.

Maybe.

"Alright," I said as I pulled Pikachu from my shoulder. "I need you here buddy. In case everything goes south, I'm going to need cover fire."

Pikachu growled loudly.

"Listen we went through this. Just... Just stay here, ok? I promise I'm coming back alive." I hoped I was telling the truth.

Pikachu stared at me for a moment. Then he turned towards the clefable. His fur crackled again as he gave a last warning growl. The clefable hummed peacefully in return. Their exchange over, Pikachu took a more advantageous position to send bolts downwards in case I needed protection.

I didn't like leaving him but had no choice. My mission now would be hindered by numbers, I needed stealth.

I crouched a little so the clefable could climb on my back. I grunted as his small claws grasped me tightly, he wasn't as heavy as I suspected, but still, the added weight surprised me. Panting, I grabbed and held tight the makeshift flask filled with the fairies' miracle water. I had made the flask out of zubat wing skin. It wasn't perfect, it leaked some of its content, but it would do.

I looked down the hole one last time. From where I was, the tents looked tiny and the people like durant. I gulped. _Can this really work? Or am I actually crazy?_ I wasn't one of those people who had acrophobia, but the camp looked way down _there_ , while I was way up _here_.

A minute passed while I stared down the hole.

One of the yanmega flew under me and then away from my sight.

Another minute passed.

I heard Pikachu's silent whimpers near.

The clefable kicked me once with his short legs.

 _Let's get this over with._

I jumped.

I bit my tongue to not scream out. The dive was long, and without the clefable I would have definitely died. He was stretching his tiny wings as far out as he could, trying to build more air resistance so we could glide instead of fall. At the same time, he was cushioning us telekinetically and masking us telepathically.

Still we hit the ground hard.

We landed in the middle of a few tents. My eyes watering from pain, I dropped the tired clefable from my back and quickly held my flask to his mouth. His eyes slightly regained their lively look as he drank the few gulps of miracle water I saved.

I looked up to the yanmega carefully - were we spotted? No, thankfully the clefable was strong enough to both hide and soften our fall, but I could see his face frowning. I imagined being away from the collective psyche of his friends, now masking us alone from the entire camp, and dealing with the psychic pressure of the enemy kirlia were all draining him fast.

"Don't move," I whispered. "Save your energy and hang on. I'll try handling this quickly." I dived in the nearest tent, guessing it was empty. Based on my spy work, I had actually timed this mission carefully. Right now, most of the guards were patrolling the perimeters, and the workers were on their way towards the mines. I expected only the researchers and a few of the guards to be in the base right now.

The tent was indeed empty. I found some spare working clothes I put on. A size too large, but I was finally free of being naked. It made good camouflage too, if someone the clefable too late to block saw me, I would be indistinguishable from the other workers. _At least from a distance_ , I heavily thought, hoping I wouldn't encounter anyone.

I exited and tried remembering my way through the maze of tents I had only seen from above. I found the research tent first and made note of its location in my mind. I passed through another row of tents and my heart thumped loudly when suddenly a guard with an ursaring walked right in front of me.

The huge pokemon sniffed the air once and turned his head towards me. I breathed in relief as his eyes passed through, the strong clefable was still hiding me from sight. But he could do nothing to mask my scent. The ursaring continued sniffing the air hungrily, trying to make sense of what he could smell but not see.

"Move on, there's nothing there, move on you log," said his owner. The ursaring looked pass me one last time, then they continued walking out of my sight. I stood another minute still to be safe, then went on searching.

Finally, I found the electrode tent, standing a bit distanced from the rest of the base. A guard with a poliwrath was in front, I avoided gazing into the spiral shaped hypnotic marks on the underbelly of the pokemon. Near the tent was a pole, and a man wearing ripped clothes sat next to it in his own dirt. He was chained to the pole by his ankles. He looked tortured.

I walked as silently as I could near him. I knelt and whispered. "Don't scream. I'm a trainer and here to help."

The man startled and made a small sound, as if he was trying to muffle a scream. He reacted better than I had anticipated, hearing voices out of nowhere would have made anyone scared. I went on whispering. "You can't see me - never mind how. Just answer me by nodding. We don't have much time."

I asked my first question "Were you here to study fossil eggs?"

The man nodded.

"And they captured you after you coincidentally stumbled on their operation?"

Another nod. I wondered why they hadn't killed him instead of keeping him imprisoned, but those were questions for another day.

"So you're a scientist?"

Nod.

"Are you familiar with pokedex technology?"

The man looked up surprised. I was tense, everything hanged on the answer of this question.

He nodded. I invisibly relaxed. "Here's what I need you to do..."

After I gave my instructions, I made my way back to the research tent, luckily encountering no other guards. But I knew I was short out of time. The rest of the guards would have finished up their patrol about now, meaning they were probably on their way back. I steadied myself and walked right in.

I had no hope of the clefable hiding me when I was this close to the kirlia, so I wasn't surprised when one of the men in white coats looked up at me and asked. "Aren't you supposed to be working right now?"

I shook my head as I walked in spying my surroundings. Inside were cases full of numerous different evolutionary stones, and on the table in the center stood many technical devices. The four men sat around the table, and in the hands of one of them I saw my pokedex. In a corner were two large, weirdly shaped stones, I assumed them to be fossil eggs. The kirlia was near the man who had spoken with me.

I put my mental guards up, hoping the kirlia wouldn't poke to deeply. "Some kind of alert," I lied. "The captain sent me to fetch some dex - she said you would understand which."

"Why didn't she call us?" another of the men suspiciously asked. I shrugged my shoulders, thinking it would be more believable to not know some answers - a captain wouldn't waste time explaining to a lowly worker like the one I was acting.

"Probably wanted to avoid our frequencies being traced," the first man said as he reached out to hand me the pokedex. "Them league bastards are still in Pewter and patrolling the river road. Here, take it," he addressed me. My heart leaped, but playing it cool, I took my dex from him calmly. I bid them farewell with a nod and exited.

I almost collapsed with relief when I felt the clefable's influence back. As I had hoped, the scientists had gotten complacent with their protection here, they never suspected that someone could have infiltrated them this far and trusted anyone wearing their worker uniform completely. They hadn't even asked their kirlia to probe me. Trusting my luck even more now, I opened my dex. _Come on, come on, come on, yes! Those idiots!_ In an effort to analyze my pokedex, the scientists had fully charged it, but they couldn't have had made it past the security measures Professor Oak had programmed. I entered my private password, and my dex came to life. _Missed you old friend._

I walked as silently as I could back towards the prisoner. I found him more easily than the first time, but the laughter and the general increase in shouting I could hear meant my time was nearly up, the rest of security had returned. I dropped my pokedex in front of the prisoner. The metallic cling it made after hitting the solid ground startled him. His eyes fixed for a moment on the dex, then he quickly took it with his free hands. Satisfied, I was about to make my retreat when two things happened.

First, the tingling in my mind vanished. Second, the prisoner looked at me eyes wide, and I meant he _really_ looked at me. I realized he could see me, which meant something had happened to the clefable.

 _And without that clefable, the guards can..._

"Hey, halt! Away from him, what are you doi-"

I didn't wait for that sentence to end, I ran as fast as I could. A whizz and a thud, something scratched my shoulder, a crossbow bolt narrowly missed me. I kept running though, trying to make my way back to where I last left the clefable.

The yanmega in the air were now whizzing their great insect wings and screeching loudly, making an annoyingly high-pitched alarm sound. A lightning bolt hit one of them, and the giant insect fell down.

"Atta boy," I muttered out of breath. The whole camp was alive now, footsteps could be heard chasing me and instructions I could not follow were announced on loudspeakers. I was lost trying to avoid my pursuers when I ran into two guards and a machamp. I hid behind my acting skills again.

"What's going on, what's going on?" I screamed like a concerned worker.

"Get back to your tent miner! That's an order!" roared one of the men.

I ran a small distance before I heard the noise from their radio. "The intruder is disguised as one of our workers, I repeat, the intruder is disguised as-"

"Halt!" came a cry behind me which I obviously ignored. I thought I was nearer to the clefable, when it came out of nowhere. The purple tail tripped me, and the long slender body immediately coiled itself around, crushing me. I tried gasping for air as my eyes bulged out of their sockets. The arbok's head turned itself towards me, and its hood widened. The mouth opened, I could see the venom dripping fangs, I couldn't close my eyes. They came closer to my face and-

"Stop, Nagina."

The coils relaxed enough for me to breath. Gasping, I looked towards my captor. She was tall and muscular; her red hair was long and kept down until it reached her waist. A small red letter "R" was sewn on the upper arm of her black clothes. She looked at me straight, her eyes were slits like her arbok's.

"You and I are going to have a chat," she said, grinning evilly.

))(())((

I was tied to a chair in one of the larger tents. Light shone directly towards me, hurting my eyes and making it impossible for me to identify the two silhouettes in front, though I suspected one of them to be the woman who caught me, one of the captains. Which meant the other one was probably the man with the weezing.

I heard cries outside, noises of guns exploding, and thunder striking. I imagined quite the battle going on.

"We found that opening above. What you are hearing is the last fight those clefairy are giving. Our men are already deploying electrodes to blow them up."

"Shame really, I was hoping Nagina could taste on more - aside from the one helping you."

I closed my eyes. So that was how that brave clefable had met his end. _I'm sorry..._

"Your name?" the first voice asked.

I spat back. _After killing Poka, after killing my mankey, after killing the clefable... These two seriously expect me to spill?_

"Who do you work for? What were you doing in our camp?"

"How did you find us?"

I stood silent. I heard the man sigh "Looks like he isn't going to talk Jessie."

"Seems so James."

"You leave us no option boy," James said. I saw the shadow of his hand reach his belt, and I braced myself.

A sweet scent like a heavy perfume filled the air. A yellow, grotesque looking shape with large leaves on its sides materialized. Two hidden eyes could be seen underneath the dark hole covered by a single leaf. A thorny vine was spasming hard in the air, connected to the main body.

 _The flycatcher pokemon._

"Venus, darling, if you may."

I screamed as the pointy end of the victreebel's vine went through my left shoulder, I could feel the thorns cutting tissue from the inside. The vine came back out and then slapped my face, ripping skin off. It hovered for a moment, then went through my right foot. I screamed again.

"Your name?" James asked again.

"Fuck you!" I couldn't help myself.

"Oh, look James, he can talk!" Jessie laughed in delight. "Let's hear from him some more."

Venus' lower body began contracting in front of me. Slowly, the movement made its way upwards, and then the leaf guarding its horrid mouth opened up. For a moment I saw the sharp inner teeth. Next, stomach acid flew out the mouth, randomly landing all over me.

"Aaaaaarghhh!" I convulsed all over, but my body was tightly bound. In pain, I rocked from right to left until I fell with the chair sideways. I hit the rocky surface but barely felt it as acid melted my flesh. _It burns, it burns, ohhh I'm going to make you pay you assholes, it burns._

"Burning tends to happen when acid meets skin deary," Jessie said, likely reading my thoughts. "Now if you were to answer our simple questions..."

"All stick, no treats?" I cried, still sideways on the ground.

"We're all out of them, I'm afraid," James mockingly said. "But I do admire you asking. In fact, I'm generally impressed by the way you're holding out, most begin spilling after Venus cuts them. Though your resistance is entirely pointless."

He walked and knelt over me. I could see him more clearly now, like Jessie, he too wore all black except for the red "R" sewn on his shoulder. His hair was unusual though, I couldn't tell exactly, but it had to be some shade of blue. He brought his mouth closer towards my ear.

"I have a confession to make," he whispered. "I don't really need to... I don't want to say _torture_ , it's just such a crass word. Let's say I don't need to treat you this _violently_. We already have a high-level psychic in our midst, we can just simply pluck the needed information out of your mind."

 _He's talking about the kirlia,_ I thought. There was no way I could mentally hold out against a real psychic type like a kirlia, if I wanted to distract them long enough, I could only hope they would use it as a last measure. Though I had a faint suspicion about where James was going with his speech, and if I was right, the mindspection would only come much, much later.

"You see, the truth is, I enjoy my job. Much." James grinned, the white of his teeth shining. "And when we simply _take_ information out of our captives' minds, instead of _making_ them give it, well, I just don't get the same amount of satisfaction."

"I get it," I sarcastically replied. "You're just the whole package aren't you, your everyday sadistic psycho, the one who needs an object to vent out his sexual frustrations." I spat again and continued "Frankly, I'm tired of your bad cop routine. Isn't it time for the good cop to step in already?"

"I'm afraid we're out of those too." He stood up and kicked me hard in the face. I felt a tooth come loose and tasted blood.

"You see, we think we already know who you are." This time it was Jessie. "So stop me if you've heard this one before. A lone, single badge trainer enters a mountain. The mountain isn't kind though, it hits back. The kid is supposed to die, but doesn't. By stroke of luck, a group of forgotten pokemon save him. They nurture him to health and show him us baddies threatening their existence. He decides to help them by huffing, puffing, and blowing the big bad guys away. Except he doesn't know he is way above his head. Anything about this story familiar?"

"Sounds almost about right," I muttered in a low voice. My mouth felt numb because of the kick James gave me.

"Almost. Uh-huh." James spoke again, "And what part of it doesn't sound right?"

From the floor I was knocked over to, I gave them a wide, bloody smile up. They paused for a moment.

"What's your end game here kid? You know you have nothing." Changing tactics, Jessie sounded as nice as a hypno luring a child. "I get you are naive and young and want to stop us villains here doing illegal work - trainer's honor and all that they teach at school. But guess what boy? Time to take off the kiddie wheels, welcome to life. It hurts."

"Just tell us what we already know. Tell us you are a nobody and lost your way here. Tell us no one else knows you are here and we will kill you and be done with it. Otherwise-"

"We are afraid-"

"The torture will continue. We are-"

"Really offering you-"

"The lesser of two evils here boy." Jessie and James completed each other's sentences.

The tooth finally coming loose, I spat it out of my mouth and gave a grin. "I am a nobody. Nobody knows I am here." I began laughing aloud after - I couldn't help myself.

A short silence followed. Jessie was the first to speak "See you go and do that now - well now I'm inclined not to believe you."

"I agree," James said. "Try it again boy, but make us believe it this time."

He snapped his fingers and Venus' vine went through my other shoulder, this time remaining there and twisting itself in. I gritted my teeth trying to stop my tears.

"Excuse me sirs-" A third voice I never heard. I saw a flicker of shadow; the newcomer must have just entered.

"What?" snapped James.

"Nothing sir, I brought the kirlia you asked fo..." the voice silently trailed off.

I understood that the man had recognized me. So did Jessie and James.

"Henry, do you know him?" James asked sweetly.

"N- No sir. I mean, I saw him before, sir, but I don't know him, sir."

"You don't know him but saw him before. That's great Henry, great." Jessie almost purred. "And where did you see him Henry?"

Silence. Followed by an almost inaudible "In our tent."

"Uh huh. So this boy came into you guys' little science tent. Aside from you lot not recognizing him as an intruder, anything else interesting happened?"

Another silence. Then, "He took the dex back."

James made a fake laugh. "When you say dex, you obviously don't mean the custom made pokedex, the unknown piece of technology we found, do you Henry? Because I refuse to believe a group of smart guys such as yourselves just simply gave a device with unknown capabilities to a stranger."

An even longer silence.

"Sir, he said it was on her orders and-"

I never heard the rest. But I did see poor Henry fall, a hole in his forehead where the victreebel had just struck. James knelt near Henry's body and tugged on his waist. When he stood up, he held a new pokeball in his hand. He pressed the trigger button, and a kirlia appeared.

They turned their attention back to me. "Well, kid." James was more serious now. "Looks like we underestimated you."

"People tend to do that," I allowed.

"Tell us everything about that dex - what does it do, what did you do with it, where is it now. Everything. Spill." I could hear the anger in Jessie's voice.

"Or we can just take it." James threatened. The kirlia's eyes glowed.

 _If my plan's not gonna work now, it never is._

"Wait," I said. "There's no need for that. I'll talk." I struggled with my bonds. "Though it is hard talking with my face down," I muttered.

The vine punctured another hole in me coming out of my back. I screamed as it tugged me upwards straight.

"Thank you," I said, trembling all over. I wondered if I had any internal bleeding. "I will tell you everything."

"Firstly," I began calmly and gave my explanations like a teacher in class. "You two look like experienced trainers, so how about a little trivia. Dark pokemon are unaffected by mental attacks and cannot be detected by psychic measures. Furthermore, like ghost pokemon, they can shadow, a transportation method of entering one shadow and exiting through another. Though incredibly fast, only the best trainers prefer this method, the danger of being dropped mid-shadow being too great for most. True or false?"

The vine cut me on the face again. I shut my eyes in pain. "I'll take that as true. Ok, what were your questions again?" The vine rose in front of me menacingly. "Wait, wait. I remember. My pokedex, right?"

I shut my eyes briefly, hoping I was buying enough time. I continued. "My pokedex has an experimental new software which is supposed to have a broader range and a bunch of other features. That's really all there is to it. Oh, wait, almost forgot. It also has a direct link with the personal dex of the man who designed it, so that I can send him reports of any bugs or glitches I found. The link is on a frequency that avoids jamming and is unaffected by distance - the man who made it wanted me to be able to reach him anytime, from anywhere. This man's name is, well, do you know who the smartest man in Indigo is?"

I braced for the vine but nothing came. _They are probably putting it together right now - I need to stall them more._

"Let me give a hint. He's named after a tree and has great friends up at the Plateau."

The vine came again this time. "We know who he is," whispered Jessie. "Did you send a message to Samuel Oak?"

I shook my head. They seemed to relax. _Not yet you don't._ "I didn't but someone else did. Someone else did this while you two were too busy with me. Which actually answers the question of who I am." I smiled. "I'm the distraction."

The vine hit me. Again and again. I laughed manically against the pain. James was screaming "Who sent the message? Where is this dex?"

I grinned bloodily. "Tell me, why do you only chain your prisoners by the ankle? Leaves their hands empty."

This time, I truly managed to stun them. Then Jessie picked up her radio, frantically yelling. "Kill the prisoner, he has a pokedex with him, crush it!"

The radio crackled, but no sound came from the other side. Simultaneously, the sound of battle from outside seemed to increase.

 _Finally._

"Now, let's say the smartest man in Indigo was made aware of an illegal operation going on in Mount Moon." I continued. "He would probably alert his friends up at the Plateau, right? And what a coincidence it would be when he would hear that one of the Elite Four was already in Pewter. A trainer of dark types even. So my final question is: How long do you think would it take for a dark type trainer shadowing to find this place after entering the tunnels?"

I answered my own question. "I would say it would take about the time of this interrogation, wouldn't you?"

The victreebel's vine came fast, but something even faster attacked from the shadows. The houndoom spat fire and the vine crumbled to ash, making Venus screech. In non-stopping motion, the houndoom jumped next atop the kirlia, which didn't even have the time to teleport as the dark pokemon broke its neck. James recalled Venus as fast as he could and Jessie released her arbok, but the houndoom, finished with the kirlia, stood in front of me protectively.

"One last thing." I glared. "My name is Red. Remember it."

The houndoom opened its mouth and breathed fire again, however Jessie was ready this time. I didn't even see her move as she released her second pokemon, a wobbufet. The fire was absorbed by the jelly like blue pokemon, and I knew that it was only a moment before it would be returned with double the intensity.

 _Come on._ I rocked my body again to drop the chair. The houndoom in front of me jumped and sank in the shadows when the wobbufet released the stored flames. I managed to fall down and the blazing heat went over me, burning me on my entire left side. I cried out in pain as the smell of burning flesh filled the tent.

The houndoom jumped out again, this time aiming to bite the wobbufet, but Jessie had already called it back. I saw them both escaping outside and the houndoom pursuing them, leaving me alone injured.

My eyes began itching as I coughed without stopping. _Smoke. Great._ The tent had caught fire in the exchange and was burning inside out. With me caught right in the middle.

 _Come on, come on, there has to be a sharp stone, a knife, something, around here!_ I tried looking but the smoke was making it difficult to see. I couldn't even move, tied tightly to the chair I was. I closed my eyes in defeat. _This is it then._ Strangely, I was at peace unlike my time with the zubat onslaught. _Guess you can even get used to dying._

My eyes shut, I held my breath to avoid inhaling smoke. My mouth had that bitter, blood taste and my skin was burning from both the heat and the acid. The only sense working was my hearing, which alerted me to the patter of small feet.

I opened the lid of my eye narrowly. Pikachu was there, he had somehow made it to me. He was trying to bite off the rope binding me. "No time," I hoarsely whispered. "Burn it off." He had a moment's hesitation, but then sent a small controlled spark towards the ropes to my left which were already slightly damaged due to the wobbufet's return fire. I felt a sting as they turned to ash, but I was finally free.

"Let's go." I staggered up but fell again, I had forgotten the injury the victreebel left on my foot. Half hopping half dragging myself, Pikachu and I made it out just in time as the tent behind us collapsed. I gasped for fresh air as I hugged Pikachu.

"I am never, never leaving without you again," I whispered. Pikachu gave his giggling sound.

I checked my surroundings, all around I could hear yelling, roars, and explosions. The camp was burning and the smoke was beginning to build in the cave. I heard an explosion from above, and rocks fell from the ceiling at a distance from me. The cries increased from that direction.

Boom. Another explosion and the earth underneath me shook. "We have to get outta here," I muttered. "There's gonna be a cave in at this rate. Can you get us out?" Pikachu nodded and led forwards, me crawling behind him. Madness surrounded us. _So this is war._

Something threw a man, and he crushingly landed in front of us, his arms were lifeless and opened wide. As we passed over him I saw another man holding a gun and firing rapidly at a large shape. The rhyperior turned and charged, bullets ricocheted off his thick skin, and its horn pierced through the assaulter. On our way, one of the scientists I saw earlier was holding his hands high and yelling "I surrender! I surrender!", then he fell down still. I saw a giant needle thick as my thumb nailed deep behind his head.

I finally saw our destination, the opening in the ceiling leading to the fairies' hideout was blasted wide. Debris had made a jagged pathway up, which was how I assumed Pikachu had climbed down. I hopelessly looked up at my salvation. I couldn't climb that. Not in this condition.

 _No use in whining._

Gritting my teeth, I reached out and pulled myself up the first few steps, Pikachu behind, guarding my rear. I immediately understood making it all the way up was impossible, my shoulders were both pierced and didn't have the strength to carry myself. Panting, I laid back.

Small hands appeared in front of me. Three clefairy led by a clefable held me tightly in their arms and began climbing up the path in hurry. Pikachu was right behind them, occasionally setting thunderbolts down to the battlefield. I saw a poliwrath struck by one during a leap and fall.

 _Thank you,_ I thought to the fairies. _Thank you, thank you, thank you..._

An image came into my mind, the male clefable with whom I had attempted this mission. Next, a sense of question.

I understood. _I'm sorry, he's dead._

The grips of the clefairy tightened, and the clefable gave a whimper, but otherwise our mental exchange was over.

I had a good view of the battlefield down below. Nearby I saw Karen with her absol battling both Jessie and James at the same time; the arbok's tail seemed to have been cut off at the end, and a cacturne was shooting needles. Ahead, I saw league trainers with their own pokemon cornering their opponents, guns were still blazing and electrodes were rolling all over exploding randomly. Yet I knew it was nearly over, everywhere I looked I saw league reinforcements teleporting in or climbing out of the shadows. I even heard a familiar roar as Diamondback materialized near the fight between Karen and the two captains.

Apparently, Jessie and James also thought that they would lose, now that both a leader and a four were here. I briefly saw the cacturne dragging the two towards itself before a weezing puffed out a huge smokescreen covering them, next thing I knew they were gone.

The captains disappearing did not stop the battle itself though. I briefly saw both Karen and Brock fighting new opponents when the clefairy pulled me back through the opening, blocking my vision. They began carrying me to the direction of their hideout.

 _Wait,_ I thought. _We need to collapse this entrance. Otherwise you'll be found._ I didn't trust their sanctuary even in the hands of the league, we had to hide it, otherwise I was sure, this time legally, someone would try profiting off this place.

I hadn't exactly thought in pictures, but the clefable understood me. She began humming a small song, and out of her outreached palms flew a powerful beam carving its way above us. Rubble came crumbling down, and the noise of battle got canceled out as the opening sealed itself.

 _Right. See. It all worked out,_ were my last thoughts as I passed out for the second time in these mountains.

))(())((

"Aaaargh!" I woke up screaming.

I was blind. I was sure of it. I saw nothing but white and my eyes burned. In my panic I tripped over something. I felt something near licking my face.

Slowly, the brightness of the white diminished. A few minutes later I could see clearly. Too clearly. I looked up.

The sun.

 _Oh, how I missed you._

I was finally out. The clefairy had dumped me outside of their mountain. I looked down the hill I was. In a distance a city built on water could be seen.

 _Cerulean City. I went through hell for it, but I made it._

I groaned in pain, and my gratitude for the clefairy lessened after I saw they hadn't healed my wounds like last time. Also I was still in my worker clothes, all my resources, and sadly, my dex were still gone.

I noticed Pikachu nibbling my feet and clutching something tight. My eyes widened as he dropped a single moon stone.

One moon stone did not make me rich. But it was more than enough to restock my supplies, buy new clothes, and continue my journey.

I took one last look at the mountain behind me. Raising my middle finger, I flipped it off - I couldn't help myself. Then Pikachu and I began our pathetic walk towards Cerulean, where hopefully we would win our second badge.

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **The fossil freak is reference to the, uhh, fossil freak you fight in Mt. Moon. Worry not, you'll see the almighty helix and worthless dome fossils later.**

 **In the games, this is where you first encounter Jessie and James. Jessie's arbok and wobbuffet are based on the anime, and though not stated, one of the yanmega (the one Pikachu didn't shoot down) is also hers. James' weezing, victreebel, and cacturne are all based on the anime. Time will tell what Jessie and James' each remaining three pokemon are. Special imaginary hugs to those who can guess them right before revealed.**

 **I hope you all remember Karen's houndoom and absol, also Brock's Diamondback from Chapter 3: Dropping Mountains. This is also the chapter where I first explained shadowing.**

 **We're out of Mt. Moon. Will Red finally reach Cerulean next chapter? No. Because next chapter will be a Blue POV one.**

 **Next Update: 18th December**


	7. Blue's Journal: The Brawler

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

BLUE'S JOURNAL

The Brawler:

The first champion of Kanto was an Oak.

Before him were days of the wild. The skies, the lands, the seas... Everywhere was full of beasts with elemental powers that obeyed the single rule of the jungle: Survival of the fittest.

And humans were definitely not the fittest. Weak and alone, we were mostly prey, leading the lives of cattle. We did not have the strength to wrestle tyrantrum. We did not have the speed to outrun aerodactyl. And we certainly did not have the claws to fight armaldo. In other words, we were pretty much useless.

But I supposed it was the basic instinct of every living organism to prevent extinction. So we humans used what we had. We numbered up and stood our ground. Stole eggs and sucked on the insides. Fashioned weapons after watching cubone. Skinned the pelt off piloswine to keep us warm. Adapted to our environment. Sometimes even changed it. Put up walls and called the land ours. Built the first settlements in the world.

The people who lived in the place we call Kanto today were the relatively lucky ones. They did not have to deal with months of flood following those of drought like the ones in Hoenn. They did not have to adapt to a fricking desert like the one in Unova, no. As far as I know, Kanto was the first region to establish civilization. Was it easy though? No, it certainly wasn't.

The wild fought back hard. Many settlements were lost, unable to deal with the constant hordes of attacking monsters. From back then, out of all those perished, only seven made it to today - the seven gym cities of mainland Kanto. Each used to be an individual state, until united by the champion.

Similar stories happened all over the world, not just here. The reasoning behind the need of a champion was simple: No matter how advanced humanity got, we were no match for the pokemon. We tried though. We upgraded from our fists to bone clubs, from throwing rocks to bows and arrows. When once we struggled against the ordinary ratticate, we began hunting dodrio with our sheer numbers and weapons. But despite all our efforts, whenever the truly dangerous came out to play, whenever the tyranitar decided to come down their mountains, the gyarados began rageing near, or the snorlax got hungry, it was a massacre. Our walls could not hold them out, our weapons could not pierce their skin. We simply had no chance. So, it wasn't surprising that at some point someone thought "Hey, how about we fight pokemon, with _pokemon_?"

The crazy thing was it worked. The first eggs we stole, when they hatched, and we trained the younglings, those offspring became stronger than their wild parents. Like some kind of cosmic joke, ironically humans were born with the ability to increase the true potential of these monsters that had preyed on them for centuries, all through the simple act of training. Of course, during said training accidents did happen, here and there a limb would be bitten off or someone would be melted to ashes. Ignoring those, the truth was humans and pokemon were made for each other, a sacred bond existed, one needed the other for protection, and the other traded its freedom for strength.

We got the better end out of this deal, if you asked me.

Continuing my story, the best of these early trainers came out of Viridian. Leonal Oak the First, my ancestor, was the first trainer to command six beasts at once, making him the baddest of badasses out there. Not only was he physically unbeatable, he was also smart, he had a vision of a unified country, a nation of fellow citizens, all safe and thriving with enough land to grow crops and soldiers to protect them.

Leonal tried his best to unite the seven cities peacefully. Some were immediately ready to join this alliance, those like Pewter, Saffron, and Celadon. Some had to be taken by force, it took a lifetime for Fuchsia to surrender. In the end though, we had a unified Kanto. Alas, old Leo was also near the end of his life. That's how the games began, to find the fittest trainer to succeed the first champion.

Kanto prospered under this system, but there was always an Oak who held her hand throughout her rise. It was an Oak that made the voyage to the nearby Cinnabar Island. An Oak founded the Rangers Organization. Another Oak proposed that Kanto and the neighboring Johto kingdom were to merge. An architect Oak designed the Plateau. War, medicine, research, any field that had any significant progress, an Oak was there.

I was proud of my lineage. My ancestors helped the people. I thought it my duty to also help. And the best way to do that was to become the champion. And not only a champion, _the_ champion. I aimed to be the best, like no one ever was. The youngest, the strongest, the one who reigned the longest. Not for my own selfish reasons, unlike _someone_ I knew, but for the people. The honest truth was that I actually cared _._ For this country. For its people. I was eager to help in the greatest way, which was why I wanted to win this damned championship in the next three years.

A goal that I had to admit looked slightly impossible as I watched my eevee roll around on my bed in my room at Pallet.

It wasn't that I was disappointed, it was just that... well, eeveelutions weren't exactly known as fighters. Sure, there were exceptions, I remembered one of the four in Sinnoh having a flareon, and Karen of our four had an umbreon. But generally, eevee made rare luxury housepets for old women. _Or dancers_ , I thought as I remembered watching the Kimono Girls Show in Ecruteak once.

 _Then again when opportunity knocks..._ I opened my deskdex and pulled out the folder I had been updating since my days in training school. My eevee jumped on the table and stared at the giant size screen with wide open eyes.

"Do you know what this is, doll?" I asked. "This is my little side project. You see, I am a bit of a hard worker. I do my homework. You should remember that since you are on the team now. I expect a lot, but not the impossible."

I double clicked the screen. Multiple tabs opened. I began explaining. "These articles right here - all these are second rate stories I pulled from the news over the past years, stories that no one would look twice at. All tell some kind of cheap thriller; mysterious kidnappers in Sevii Three, a haunting in Lavender Tower, etc etc. All of these are happenings with no explanations. To the untrained eye of course."

I was hardly blinking as I began transferring some of the files to my pokedex. "To me, these stories have culprits behind them. Culprits that are most likely pokemon. Pokemon that are strong enough to have done what they've done and cunning enough to have not gotten caught. To me, these stories are potential teammates. And you and me baby, we're gonna go through all of them," I said. Eevee yelped.

I was slightly proud of this plan of mine. Training pokemon was no laughing matter, it took years to tame a wild one. Even then, that pokemon might not be up to battling. The reason why leaders, the four, and the Champion were virtually unbeatable was because of both the experience of their teams, and that their mons were way above the physical average of their species. Natural talent combined with hard work, that was what made good mons. That was why it was hard to find Champions under the age of mid-thirties, it normally took at least fifteen years to build a champion team.

Lance made echoes around the world when he became the youngest Champion ever at age twenty-four. So how did he overcome the lack of battling experience? With lots of fucking talent - with dragons, the strongest pokemon type.

I wanted to be a champion even younger than Lance, so the math was simple. I needed the best mons out there, I needed to convince the deviously smart and incredibly powerful to join my team. Then I needed to train them even more, enough for them to beat the already unbeatable.

I snorted as I thought of how Red was handling himself, wandering aimlessly in the wild. He probably thought he would simply luck himself on a team.

 _Knowing him, he probably will. Just look - a pikachu that marked him five years ago, now his starter._

 _Shut up inner voice._

 _I'm just saying, that guy has killer instincts. I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow tamed the winged legends._

 _Again, shut up. Also, those birds don't exist._

 _Says you._

 _Says me. Which you also happen to be. Me._

I shook my head organizing my thoughts. I saw that the data transfer was over. "Before we roll." I held eevee in my lap and began petting her fur "Two things. First a name. Second, we have to decide on your eeveelution. The sooner is always better with your kind."

I began thinking on names. "I have to warn you, I'm not good at this. I once nicknamed a kid Red and it stuck. I think it's a pretty stupid name, but the guy likes it. Even calls me back Blue, which by the way is a far more awesome color than red. Hey you know the guy too - he was the one with the pikachu back at the lab."

My eevee gave a soft sigh. I chuckled. "Ok, kinda got sidetracked there, I admit."

I gave it a minute's thought, then spoke "Fate. Nah, doesn't roll right. Faith? Too cheesy. We need something that inspires. Hope, maybe?"

The eevee's head rose.

"Yeah, you like that? Don't you think it's too cliche?"

Eevee gave out a long mewl.

"Ok then, Hope it is. Hope." The more I said it aloud the more I liked it. _A fitting name for the starter of a future Champion._

"Alright Hope, now all that's left to decide is what to evolve you in." This was more challenging than coming up with a name. An eevee had eight different evolutions, and I wanted the one that would not only suit Hope's natural traits but would also support my team in the best way possible.

"I already know exactly what I want as my final pokemon - it's probably better to go after it waay later. Keeping it in mind, what should you become, what should you become..."

I thought of the two team building strategies, the core and the type. Type could be easier, there was a reason why every leader, four, and champion went with it. _Lance: Three dragons, week to ice, adds fire and rock types to his team as a counter. Steven: Three steel types, adds two fossils to counter fire types and a psychic to counter fighters._ I bit my lip. _I can go with a dark team, I already want one, umbreon can be another._

I went over the transferred files on my dex. In my mind was now a whiteboard where I was pinning the useful, most likely not bogus, information and connecting them with strings. Slowly, I looked upon the shape they built. I didn't like it. _Even if all this info were true, a team like this could never make it._

Fine then. Type building was out. Moving on to core building. _Cynthia, a dragon-fairy-steel core. Hmm, with a sylveon I would have the fairy covered but I don't think I can train a dragon in three years. The other two cores are water-grass-fire and fighting-dark-psychic. Hope can become five of these six types._

I cleared the board in my head and began reorganizing. It was an agonizing process; eliminating those leads I considered bogus, calculating each possible teammate for each possible type Hope could become, and then finally checking whether or not that team would hold against league pokemon. Luckily, I had inherited my grandfather's brains. I was now working on five different boards in my head. Hope gently bit my hand concerned by my long-time silence. "Hush now, daddy's thinking," I muttered.

Two of the five shapes in my head were not actually bad, but... _Something's missing._ I wondered if Red was worrying of his team building. _Probably not. He trusts his luck and likes to think on the spot more._ Thinking of Red made me think of his starter. And thinking of his starter made me think... A sixth whiteboard appeared in my imagination.

Excited, I put my head between my hands. _What if..._ The other boards disappeared as I concentrated on the final one. I could feel the smoke coming out from the gears in my head whirling. I connected the last few pins, and breathless, looked upon my masterpiece.

 _Magnificent._

If I pulled this off, I would be remembered forever. This was a team impossible, but destined to be. I stood up so abruptly that Hope fell off my lap. "I got it." I grinned. "Let's hit the roads Hope. We've lost enough time already."

I grabbed my travel bag and rushed downstairs to gramps' basement. The door was electronically locked, as if that could stop me. I already knew every password gramps ever used. I entered the numbers and entered the home-made lab he had built. He was kind of a bring-your-work-home sorta guy.

 _Where is it, where is it_ , I kept looking over the cardboard boxes he had stored. Finally, I found the one labeled "Evolutionary Stones". I reached in and took the one I wanted. "C'mere, Hope." I strapped the stone to her left hindleg with a band. "Not too tight, is it?" Hope shook her ears.

We walked out of my house. I turned back for a final look before leaving. It had been a year since Daisy left to join the military after finishing her medical training, and with gramps still at work, the house was empty.

A lump sat at my throat for a moment. _This has been my home since... Huh. Are those tears? Weird._ Gramps had taken it a bit hard when Daisy had left and I knew he still missed her. _Wonder if he'll miss me as much? Probably. That's why he didn't say farewell. Hates them. Sentimental old fool._

Hope pulled my sleeves with her teeth.

"Ok, ok." I closed the door. "Let's go."

))(())((

 _"During Bug-Catching Contest multiple contestants found injured and passed out - their pokemon missing (_ _Click_ _for the list of missing pokemon). Officers suspect assault and thievery. 'Rangers are assisting us in searching the park,' an officer who wishes to remain anonymous states. 'We'll find the culprits soon.'"_

"Heh. Good luck with that."

 _"Record breaking pinsir catch! Eleven-year-old Jonathan Y. catches the largest pinsir ever measured in Johto's National Park. 'I was terrified when it came out - I panicked and threw my ball and bam! It stayed in. Guess I was lucky,' says young Johnny (_ _Click_ _for photo of Johnny and his catch)."_

"Oh, come on! Do people really believe a kid just happened to catch a monster like that - that thing is twice my size!"

 _"Trainer's gloom goes missing in National Park. 'Neither the officers nor rangers care,' cries out owner. 'They think she just wandered off back to the wild. Plums would never do that, she was my starter!'"_

"Yeaaaah, I think it's too late for dear old Plums."

 _"IndigoRangersAssociatian/Reports/YearlyReports/SectionsMtoZ/NationalParkJohto/_ _Download_ _File"_

"Fuck yes."

The report was long and boring, but it confirmed my suspicions. There was something fishy going on in the National Park. Nothing too alarming for rangers to investigate, but I bet they would if they had collected old pieces of news like I had. I glanced again at the numbers on the report.

 _...small migration of Alpha level bugs from section C45 to D05..._

 _...0.045 decrease of Beta level poison types from sections C40 to C49..._

 _...a 0.078 increase of broken nests and fallen trees spotted in between sections C42 and C43..._

"An outsider," I muttered. "That's gotta be it." The National Park was one of those few safe and friendly wild areas preserved by rangers. A picnic spot for the family on weekends, a refreshing change for teenage couples bored in the concrete jungle that is Goldenrod, everyone enjoyed the taste of Mother Nature as long as she didn't bite back. The National Park did have a few Alpha level threats - pinsir, scyther, beedrill hives - but they usually made nest near to the center of the ginormous area, away from the edges that were mostly occupied by tourists and visitors.

"There is something at the edge of section C. It's disrupting the natural ecosystem there, but only extremely slightly, meaning our suspect is a single pokemon smart enough to know if it attracts too much attention it will be exterminated," I explained to Hope who was sitting on my lap as we waited our names to be called. The stone I tied to her a week ago was doing its work, already Hope's fur color was changing and her body was growing larger. "It's also a fighter, see how it's driving others away from its territory? The pinsir that Johnny kid caught probably took a beating and was running, that's why it was captured so easily."

The guy next to me gave me a condescending look, probably finding it stupid, me talking and explaining to an eevee. I was going to give him a piece of my mind when I heard my name announced. I stood up and walked with Hope over to the receptionist, a pretty looking blonde looking a few years older than me.

"Mr. Oak, I presume?" she asked, smiling.

"It's either Gary or Blue love, never Mister." I replied, sliding my training's license towards her.

"Pokemon Trainer Blue," she muttered reading my card. Then her eyes widened. "That age can't be right?"

"I know, I wanted to graduate even earlier but they wouldn't let me." I sighed, winking her way. "Something about too much talent too early unleashed."

"Let's hope the world won't be deprived of that talent any longer Mr- sorry, Blue," she said. "Your transport is ready at port number nine. Funny name, though, isn't it? Blue. If I were an Oak, I wouldn't hide my name."

"I wouldn't mind _making_ you an Oak, love."

She blushed. "Enjoy your travels Blue."

"Already am," I said, waving her goodbye as I walked away. Hope made a small "huh" sound next to me. I grinned. "Don't be jealous doll. You know you're my favorite."

We found port nine at the end of the corridor. Aside from us, there was a small family of three, the parents and their young girl, and two elderly men, all sitting in their seats and chatting. The girl who couldn't be more than five or six looked slightly nervous.

"First time porting?" I kindly asked, seating myself across her. She looked up at me and quickly nodded. Then she saw Hope.

"Pretty," she whispered.

"That she is. Would you like to pet her?"

She looked up at her parents, who had stopped talking with the other travelers and were listening in on us. "Umm, it's not dangerous, is it?" the father asked concerned.

" _She_ is not dangerous to little girls, no," I answered back.

That apparently was enough permission for the girl. She jumped down her seat and began petting Hope. Hope licked her face in return. She giggled. "Why is there a rock tied to her?" she asked.

"It's a magic rock," I said. "If it stays in contact with her for a few weeks, she'll evolve."

"What will she evolv-"

Bampf. A small puff of smoke interrupted our talk. A claydol and his owner wearing the standard blue uniform of Viridian Travels appeared.

"Hello, dear passengers!" The captain was a jolly man. "Thank you for choosing Viridian Travels! Let's see, our stops are listed as..." He looked up questioningly as he went over them. "Mahogany Town, National Park, and Ranch MooMoo, am I correct?" We all nodded.

"Then if you would all kindly hold on to Aia here - yes just like that. We'll go once I get clearance." The captain held to his earpiece. The girl looked as if she was going to be sick.

"Don't worry," I whispered lowering my free hand. Gratefully, she held it.

"Port nine is a go. I repeat port nine is a go. Five, four, three, two, one-"

Bampf.

I opened my eyes. We were in a similar room like the last one, except here on the walls it read "Welcome to Mahogany Town!".

"Is it over?" the girl asked. She hadn't opened her eyes.

"It's over sweety," her mom answered. They let go of the claydol.

"Thank you," the girl whispered. I smiled back.

"Next to National Park. Three, two, one-"

We stood in a smaller room than the last ones. Not that unsurprising, since the city stops were busier and required larger space. Hope and I exited. Behind me I heard the now too familiar "three, two, one, Bampf!".

"I hate teleporting," I said to Hope. "Too expensive, and it takes forever to find a seat. But it's still the quickest way of transportation."

A short walk later we were diving deeper and deeper into the woods of Johto's National Park. I constantly checked our location on my dex. "Right now, we're still in section A of the park. This is the outermost ring. We need to go to C. That will probably take about a week. We should try to make the most of it and train you."

I hadn't really gotten the chance to train Hope seriously before. The soonest port to National Park was from Viridian eight days later from the day I had gotten my starter. I had made the journey in five by cycling without any breaks. The next day I had crashed dead tired. The last two days I had been busy buying supplies and netballs.

"This is your first time in the wild since you're a lab mon so don't be scared," I said. In response, Hope rolled her eyes. I continued. "Let's make the most of our time here."

And we did. The following days were exhausting for both of us. We both woke up at dawn after camping the nights. I trained eevee in special agility exercises in hopes of increasing her speed. I also captured two other pokemon, a rattata and a pidgey. I kept them in their balls for now, Hope was still too weak to help me subjugate them, and I dared not let them out for they would most probably escape. I caught them in the first place because I noticed the rattata's fur losing its purple color, and it was close to evolving. A ratticate would be a good training partner for Hope later. As for the pidgey, I hoped to evolve it into a pidgeot I could ride, so I wouldn't always have to spend my Oak family allowance on transportation.

Hope was learning fast. Her body, charged with the energies of the evolutionary stone tied to her, was growing at a noticeable rate. Her brownish fur was almost gone, and her ears were longer and sharper. She didn't mewl anymore, and her growls were more threatening. There were still shortcomings though, her jaw strength was not nearly enough to break even pineco shells, and she was quick to give up when injured. Once a kricketune barely scratched her on the side, and she ran back to me afraid. I forced her to carry on fighting which she did, but later spent the rest of the day sulking behind me.

 _She isn't a head on fighter, probably never will be. A supporting role is more suited for her in my team, a counter mon. Which is why we need to make her faster._ Many teams had failed because their shortsighted owners only wanted the big, powerful pokemon. That was not how team building worked, each mon had a job, each mon was tasked with covering the other's weakness. And I already had a role other than brawler for Hope in mind, so I wasn't that worried about her reluctance to battle.

Detouring a bit, we eventually reached sector C1 nine days later. Another half a day's walk later we were between what my map told us were parts C42 and C43. I found a clearance that looked as if a wailord had rolled over, trees were broken down and tossed aside like nothing, and the ground was covered in large insect carapaces.

"I think it's safe to assume we're near," I whispered. Hope was also tense, she was crouched and growling. "Let's do a bit detective work." Speaking out loud always helped me clear my mind "It's safe to assume some kind of fight happened, between our mysterious pokemon and a hive of..." I kicked one of the shells over to inspect. "Drapion. Ugh, nasty these things. Don't touch anything, their bodies are still poisonous after death." Hope steered away from one of the bodies she was near.

"Hmm, our assailant walked right into this nest. It was looking for a battle, and judging how it left the majority of bodies behind, it killed just for sport. A good time. It didn't even care that the enemies were deadly poisonous, heck, it probably even sought the venom. Looks like we're dealing with a murderous poison junkie."

I was excited, my initial suspicions of the species of this pokemon were proving right. _I have a pretty good idea what this guy is now. Let's catch it._ I pulled a pair of rubber gloves out of my bag and began piling a few of the skorupi corpses together. Using my matchstick, I started a fire, skorupi still being part bug before evolving into dark were more flammable compared to the adult drapion. I cut off a piece of my shirt and held it over my mouth to prevent inhaling the deadly gas that began rising from the fire. Hope too stood away from the wind direction.

"I have antidotes but I want to save them for later. I think we're gonna need to burn a lot more bodies to lure this guy."

The thick, purplish smoke followed the wind deeper towards the trees. I waited a good fifteen minutes but when nothing happened, I pulled a drapion corpse into the fire.

Coughing, I fell back. The smoke became deeper in color and expanded violently. Even through my mask I could taste the sickening air on my tongue. My eyes were beginning to water. I also heard a vibrating sound above the treetops, probably the bugs which had nested there were now eloping to escape the toxic air. But then I heard the sound I was expecting.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump. Thump.

Power echoed through each step. Thump. Crack. The sound of an unfortunate tree in the way falling. Thump. Thump. Hope's growls grew louder. Thump. It stepped out into the clearing.

It was neither tall nor wide, slightly bigger than me. But I didn't let its size fool me, I knew its body consisted of pure muscle, covered in a thick, blue shell. Its insectoid legs left footprints in the hard ground. The normally yellow eyes were purple, it was breathing deeply, inhaling the venomous air that made its blood boil and mind berserk, easily doubling its already unchallenged strength.

My eyes however were fixed on one thing: The long, bloody, pronged horn on its forehead. The shape indicated it was a male. He locked eyes with me, assessing me as a threat. I reached down and pulled a log on fire. I held it in both hands in front of me.

"Come and get me ugly."

The heracross charged and I barely dodged, I was lucky, the same poison in its blood that made it stronger also made him more wildly out of control. He ran straight to the nearest tree and his horn got stuck. He pulled back once, twice, and the horn came free, leaving a gaping hole in its absence on the tree.

The heracross turned back to face me. Since his initial attack missed, he was steadying himself, trying to face me in a more calmed state. I knew his horn was not the only dangerous part, his clawed fists were powerful enough to knock down a house in one blow. Then again, to use his fists, he needed to catch me.

Taking measure of the burning log in my hand - bugs hated fire -, he tried approaching me slowly. This was actually playing into my hand. I backed up, keeping the distance. A flare of anger passed through his eyes, but he didn't charge again. Instead, we began circling each other.

This was it. A heracross being part fighting would never accept a master unless defeated in combat, a trait few have accomplished. Right now though, I had more than a chance. This heracross was battle worn and willingly poisoned. Poisons worked different on a heracross, they acted as an adrenaline boost and shut down pain receptors, leading to increased physical province and confidence. The heracross in front of me was addicted to the high that venom gave him, but this meant his fall would hit harder. I only had to survive until the poisons worked through his system.

 _If I can._

"How does all that drapion venom feel?" I asked him while still circling each other. I realized I had no idea where Hope was. "I bet you have some pecha berries stored somewhere, don't you? That's how you operate. Get poisoned. Beat up others while high. Eat some berries to heal and then repeat. The great life." I could see that my human voice was riling up this feral pokemon. _Good. That will only make the poison work faster._

"Except you slipped up now. You were on your way to your antidotes after clearing up this drapion hive when you smelled more, didn't you? Thought you missed a few skorupi, eh? But instead all you found was a puny human."

The heracross began crouching ever so slightly. I expected an attack soon. "You could always turn back and heal yourself. But that's not you, is it? You wouldn't retreat out of a fight." I planted my feet and stopped our dance. "Pretty dumb if you ask me."

The shell on his back opened up, showing a pair of wings. At the same time, he lunged forward; head lowered and arms opened wide. With the added speed of his flight, it was impossible for me to dodge him. I tried hitting with the log. He blocked it with one fist and swung me over his back with his mighty horn. For a second, I was raised in the air high, then I landed on my back. I lost my breath as I tried finding my feet.

 _Too late._

He turned already before I even landed. I saw the two clawed feet coming down ready to squash my head when- Hope. She appeared out of nowhere. Blindingly fast, she hit the bug full body, making him miss my head by a small margin. Distracted by this new enemy, he tried following Hope, but this gave me the time to get on my feet and throw a netball from my belt. The ball hit him mid chest, opened, and then the red light came out trapping him in.

Body aching, I put some distance between the shaking ball and me. Hope also came near me, growling in a deep voice had I never heard before. The ball violently shook once. Twice. And then-

The ball exploded as energy came out of it free. Before the heracross was angry, now it was furious. He gave a great battle cry and darted towards us, the ground cracked under the pressure from his force and I swore I thought we were gonna die, but just before reaching us, he fell on his knees. His eyes were full of hatred as his mouth began foaming. His body lingered a moment, then he fell face down.

 _No time to waste._ Ignoring my pain, I limped towards my bag while Hope grabbed the bug with her teeth and tried turning him up. I took all my pills of antidote and dumped them down the heracross' mouth, force feeding them to him. His body twitched once, then his ragged breathing steadied. I put an ear to his chest, the heartbeat was loud and clear.

Exhausted, I laid on my back. Hope came near and began licking me. In all my turmoil I hadn't even noticed she had finally evolved into her final stage.

"You look beautiful," I said, gasping. She purred. "Seriously, you were amazing. You saved my ass from that beast."

We both looked towards the soundly sleeping, recovering heracross. "Not bad of a first impression eh, what do you think? Do you like him?" I asked. Hope put her nose up in the air. "Aww don't be so picky. We're gonna need him. If he decides to join us." I looked around us. "We should probably put out that fire before the whole forest burns or gets poisoned."

))(())((

The heracross woke up at night. We had just cleared the area of the drapion corpses and had started a regular fire going. He watched us bug eyed for a moment, then sat cross legged across us. I noticed his eyes had regained their normal yellow color.

"Here." I tossed him a handful berries "Pechas. You're probably clean of venom, but hey, they are also delicious, and I don't know about you, but our tussle made me hungry as hell." There was no way of him understanding what I was saying, yet he nibbled on the berries anyway. He drew himself closer to the fire and us, but still kept his horn lowered.

I examined him closely in the light. His carapace had smashes all over the front, but the back of his shell was smooth as far as I could tell. His horn was chipped but looked thick. Without a doubt he was an extremely experienced fighter well above his species' capabilities. All heracross liked tussling, not all went decimating complete nests by their lonesome.

"You are magnificent," I said, awe stricken. "So much raw power, so much violence. Yet wasted." I stood up. His eyes followed me. "Well, thanks for the sport. C'mon Hope let's go." She hopped near me, and we turned our backs aiming to leave. I heard a surprised grunt behind us.

"Well, what did you think? That I was gonna spend the rest of my life here? No, my friend, I have a whole world out there to conquer, one much larger than this small piece of woods you occupy. Oh, almost forgot my bag."

I went back near the fire to pick up my bag. I saw the heracross in a confused state, half-crouching half-sitting, he was looking at me with a blank expression on his face. I picked up my bag. "See you later, keep out of trouble, stay away from drugs."

This time, I was truly aiming to leave, but he suddenly jumped in front of me. Hope snapped her jaw at him, but I ordered her back. Ignoring the giant bug, I tried walking around when a claw stopped me, poking my chest. He had his head lowered, eyes challenging, aiming his horn at me.

"No," I said strictly. "We aren't going to fight again. I beat you. Live with that." I moved again, but he pushed me back again. "No!" This time I snapped. He looked surprised, and even, heh, hurt.

This was my plan of course. I guessed this heracross priding himself on always winning, no matter the opponent, no matter the odds. But he had lost to me. I had seen him fall on his knees. His fighting type pride depended on our rematch. No doubt he could snap me in two in an instant, but where was the honor in doing that to an opponent who wouldn't fight back?

"You. Lost." I heavily accentuated on each word. Then I left.

The cry was ecstatic. I heard a crash, then another. Twigs were snapping. Curious, I turned and saw the heracross gone mad, hitting his body on one tree and another, unable to cope with his defeat. I sighed and walked back. His eyes glimmered with hope as he saw me.

I took out a netball and put it between my feet on the ground.

A minute of silence followed. I could see him connecting the dots in his junkie brain. I was never going to accept a rematch. He would forever live with his shame. Unless...

Unless he joined me. Unless he accepted me as Master. Then his defeat would mean nothing, because if I was the Master, then he was the Pupil, and it was only natural for the Pupil to lose against the Master.

"Stay and live for nothing. Join and be my champion." I tried promising him fresh new battles with my voice, ones where he would be truly tested, ones that this peaceful park could not offer him.

He still stood still.

Hope came near him. She rubbed herself on his legs and stretched. Then she looked up to him, and the two pokemon locked eyes.

I didn't know what sort of message passed between those two pokemon. I only knew that my heart was beating incredibly fast as the giant heracross reached down and pressed the button of the ball with his horn.

I pressed the ball near my lips "Welcome to the team, Invictus."

))(())((

I threw my pokedex hard at the wall.

Luckily, it didn't break.

Here I was, relaxing on my five-star hotel bed in Goldenrod, thinking of how good I had started my training career. My starter had evolved in a mere fifteen days after I had gotten her. I had caught and, uh, _almost_ tamed a second pokemon, a wild monster. My six-member main roster was a third done. My initial plan to assemble a full team within a year and then challenge leaders repeatedly in the following two was going on track. By suddenly appearing a year late with a capable team against whom no one would have the time to prepare, I was hoping on surprising my opponents.

And then this happened.

I could still read the screen from where my dex fell. _"Indigo Time Record! Mysterious PKMN Trainer Red Defeats Pewter Gym!_ _Click_ _for details and video."_

I didn't watch the entirety of the video - the minute I saw Red feigning horror against Diamondback I already knew Brock lost.

So here I was, lying on my back, watching the ceiling, and thinking, asking myself the important questions of life. Like, if I really was petty enough to change my plan of building a full team first and challenging gyms later, to challenging gyms first and building a full team later, just because my childhood rival had gotten the jump on me and acquired a badge sooner.

Tough call.

Then again it wasn't.

 _I mean, I did kinda promise Invictus new battles. And I don't think he's the kind of bug that would like waiting. This has nothing to do with Red. It's just practical._

 _Keep telling yourself that._

 _Mew damn it, do you ever shut up inner voice?!_

Sighing, I took my dex and began dialing.

"Viridian Transport, right? When's the soonest port to Pewter from Goldenrod?"

 _If he went to Pewter first, he's probably on his way to Cerulean now._

 _I thought this wasn't about Red._

 _Shut. Up._

"Also, while you're at it, book me another port from Pewter to Cerulean, about a week after the one to Pewter."

 _Never are you getting ahead of me again Reddy boy._

 _Never._

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **Blue wields a heracross during the championship rematch of the gen 3 remakes of the gen 1 games. Does this mean all of Blue's pokemon will be from that team? No. Though clever readers who have played the games might guess how his team will shape up based on his own explanations during this chapter.**

 **The reason why Blue's heracross, Invictus, seeks poison is my interpretation of heracross' ability in the games, "guts". Basically, it works like this; if a pokemon with guts gets poisoned (also works with any other status condition), its attack will double. It's kind of a risky ability, and in my opinion the constant toxic damage is rarely worth the boost in attack.**

 **Red briefly touched upon this topic, Blue explains it more in detail. The core strategy is real and the three three-type-core teams are fire, grass, water, and steel, dragon, fairy, and psychic, fighting, dark. The reason these three are referred as cores by pokebattlers in real life is that each three type has a counter cycle within, like: psychic strong against fighting, fighting against dark, dark against psychic, you get the idea. I bet most of you in game build a fire water grass core without even noticing, just because how easy these three types counter basically everything.**

 **Confession: I liked writing about Blue more than Red. Blasphemy!**

 **Anyone can guess what Hope evolved to? Hints were dropped all over.**

 **Next chapter Red will finally be in Cerulean and maybe... challenge Misty? We'll see.**

 **Next Update: 25th December.**


	8. Chapter 6: Melanie Under-The-Bridge

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER SIX

Melanie Under-The-Bridge:

 _"Leave him," says the spiky, sandy blonde-haired boy. His voice is calm and authoritative, it is a commanding voice that should by no means belong to the small boy he is._

 _"Shut up Gary!" one of the other boys says. His face is red with anger, justifiably perhaps, but nevertheless, normally he would have never addressed the golden boy of school in such a rude manner. "He went too far this time!" he says as he kicks the dark-haired boy on the ground, in the middle of a surrounding group of youngsters about the same age._

 _That one boy may be too emotional to act straight, but the others aren't. They back up a bit in the presence of Gary Oak. Another kid explains, "Umm, he did his magic again Gary. On Ben. We need to teach'em a lesson, Gary, that's fair, isn't it?"_

 _Well, Garret Oak is nothing if not fair. "What did he do?" he asks. Excited now, and seeking approval for the well-deserved punishment, the boys begin telling the story._

 _The dark-haired boy on the ground only smirks. His thoughts are on how pathetic, how boring people are, how they can only justify their actions if someone in charge allows it, how far away they are from grasping their own lives in their own hands. His thoughts are condescending and narcissistic, his thoughts are those that suit an elderly war veteran more than a ten-year-old boy._

 _"So, he made Ben's family pet growlithe attack Ben? That's it?" Gary grins. "How do you even know he made it do that?"_

 _"Stripes never did nothing like that before! He never bit me, he likes me!" Ben spits out. "And, and, and you know how he is with mons Gary, he has this mind control thingy on them and, and..." Too angry to continue, he crouches on the dark-haired boy again and pummels him with his fists._

 _A mistake. Because without Ben's other friends holding him down, the dark-haired boy is far from defenseless. He kicks back, right between Ben's legs. Ben howls and rolls over._

 _The other kids are ready to jump, but they stop when Gary asks, "Why did you do it?"_

 _Bright blue eyes meet brown. Every other kid thinks Gary is asking why the boy kicked Ben, why he fought back when the odds are so against him. The dark haired, brown eyed boy knows he is asking why he made Ben's growlithe attack its owner._

 _He shrugs his shoulders, takes a deep breath, and speaks the first time ever to his classmates. "Because I could."_

The key turned, and the iron door leading to my cell opened wide.

"Trainer Red, your credentials checked out. You're free to go."

Groaning, I got up from the wooden bench I was sleeping on. Next to me on the ground Pikachu stretched his body and jumped up, taking his regular place on my shoulder.

The toothless old man, whom I had shared this cell with over the last two days, bid me farewell in his own way. "No, no! Where are you going? Didn't you listen to me? This is the only safe place left!"

"Yeah, yeah, can it Rusty!" said the officer whose name tag read Johnson. He slammed the door shut behind me. The last thing I heard from Rusty was that the time of the Bidoof-Apocalypse was nigh.

"Crazy old coot," muttered Officer Johnson.

We climbed the stairs from the holding cells up to the main lobby of Cerulean Police Headquarters. Making way through a number of people, Officer Johnson led Pikachu and me to a desk.

"Trainer Red's possessions."

Eyeing me suspiciously, the female officer by the desk reached under and pulled a transparent plastic bag, my moon stone clearly visible in. My escort gave a small whistle when he saw the size of it. Ignoring him, I took the stone and put it in my pocket.

"Sign here."

After I signed, Officer Johnson turned to me. "All right kid, here's the first thing you gonna do. There's a league office next to the pokecenter on Drowning Street, near the square, can't miss it. Get yourself a new training's license, I don't want you roaming around in my city anymore without any ID. Next, keep that mon of yours under control. It goes around attacking another officer of the law again, I'll put you two in a cell so deep they'll need a dugtrio squad to dig you out." He gave Pikachu a look, which Pikachu returned by turning his backside on him.

I couldn't help slightly smirking as I remembered how we had approached the city gate after our climb down Mt. Moon. Looking probably like a deranged madman - spending Dialga knows how much time underground and being tortured tended to make you look not as your best, wielding no identification - thanks to my stuff being lost under the tunnels, and holding a valuable stone in my hand - which looked like I had stolen, I had scared the city guards a lot. It hadn't helped when Pikachu had shocked a croconaw that had belonged to one of the guards as they were trying to stop me entering the city.

"Do you have a permanent address during your stay in Cerulean?" Officer Johnson returned me to reality. I shook my head. He didn't seem to like my answer. "Well, I don't want you crawling in the streets homeless, looking for a shed to sleep in. Get one."

Rolling my eyes, I patted my pocket, reminding him of my moon stone which would worth more than his monthly salary once I cashed it. With the money I expected to get, it was stupid to assume I couldn't afford a motel room.

He went slightly red but continued. "We keep the streets clean here kid, so stay out of trouble."

Having enough of his speech, I turned around and made my way to the exit.

"Trainer Red!" He called. I looked at him a final time.

Probably feeling obligated, he gritted through his teeth, "Welcome to Cerulean City."

))(())((

Cerulean, the Lagoon City.

Cerulean was one of the luckier cites in Kanto. The people who first migrated here were greeted with many intersecting rivers, making the land between extremely suitable for farming. The rivers themselves were also bountiful, the people fished goldeen, remoraid, and magikarp. Protection from the wild was easy after walling up the river sides and huddling in, making a natural moat surrounding their homes.

Just as the mountains were to Pewterians, so were the rivers sacred to Ceruleanians. Their greatest way of worship was through their trainers, which almost always exclusively trained water types. Out of all the cities in Indigo, only in historic Cerulean were trainers associated with religious power. These so called "water priests" used to patrol the rivers and the city as if they owned them, which in a sense they did.

After the unification of Kanto, the priests were stripped of any spiritual titles they had and were bound to the league. An extreme fraction of them did not like that and tried flooding parts of the city using their pokemon, in hopes of by showing the wrath of the river gods, they would gain the people's support back. They failed when one of them lost nerve and reported to the newly established league government. Leonal Oak came with his team to battle. After killing all the opposing pokemon, he tied weights to the ringleaders and drowned them in the very rivers they worshiped, supposedly quoting that if they were ready to murder for their gods, it was fitting that their gods murdered them.

I read all this on the information board near the Pokecenter on Drowned Street. Apparently, before it was filled in to make new landscape for the growing population, this was the spot where the first Champion of Kanto performed his execution. _Charming name_ , I couldn't help thinking as I glanced up to the street sign.

Today there existed no followers of the Water Church, but Cerulean trainers still seemed inherently drawn to train water types, as could be seen from their Gym Leaders. Every leader of Cerulean since the unification had been a water trainer, including the current one, Misty. _Lucky for us,_ I thought, feeling Pikachu on my shoulder. _This time we'll have the advantage, unlike when we were against Brock._

"Get down." I nudged Pikachu, and he jumped down. "You're too heavy." We went past the Pokecenter and a short walk later found the league bureau.

We entered. There weren't that many people inside, but still the receptionists all had lines in front of them. I seemed to draw all eyes on me as I walked in wearing clothes too large, with scars on my face and a pokemon out of its pokeball. Not minding the stares, I took a place in the line behind receptionist number four.

Two of the receptionists began whispering among each other and gave me small glances, obviously talking about me. I saw one of them calling for someone else from behind the great glass door that separated the offices from the main lobby. A young man in his twenties came out and after a small talk that happened between him and the receptionists, he walked around and made his way towards me.

"Mr. Red?" he asked kindly while smiling. I looked up surprised and nodded. His smile widened. "We were notified earlier that a, eeh, roughed up male trainer with a pikachu might show. Please, would you follow me?"

Half a minute later I was seated across him in a standard office room. His back was turned to me since he was looking for something in a cabinet.

"My name is Alex," he said, his back still turned. "As I said before, we were told you might arrive, and we received a parcel to give you upon arrival. The sender is anonymous, which isn't how we usually do things - you wouldn't have any idea who might send you something so secretively, would you?" he asked, allowing his head to slightly turn to face me.

I shook my head.

"I thought so. Anyway, the higher ups warned us it was a priority that we gave you this package. Ever since, we've been on alert - ah, here it is."

He took out a small brown box and put it on his desk.

"Now as I understand you don't have any ID on you, right? That's okay, we actually printed you a new trainer's card - all your records intact. Still I'm going to need you to sign these..."

After the paperwork was finished, he told me to wait for a minute as he made a call. He apologetically smiled "I'm requesting a quick sweep, we have to be sure that you are you and not actually a ditto or something else. They'll be here any second."

Just as he finished his sentence a woman entered the office and greeted us. She took out a pokeball out her belt and released a spoink. The small funny looking pokemon began jumping up and down on the spring it had as legs.

"Stop clowning," muttered the woman. Hearing its trainers voice, the excited pokemon settled down a bit. "Better. Now," she instructed me. "If you would just stare in the eyes - don't worry, this isn't a mindspection, just to identify you as a human species and..." The small pearl on the spoink's head lit up once, then twice. "He's alright Alex," she said "Human like us."

"Thank you, Dinah." Alex sighed, relieved. Giving me a small wink, Dinah left the room. "Well then Mr. Red, this package is all yours - ah you want to open it here. I guess that's okay?" he said worried.

I had no idea who sent me what, but my adventures in Mt. Moon had made me paranoid. I would much rather open this package in a protected league building than my yet to rent motel room.

My worries were eased however. Inside was a small envelope, and under it was - my heart thumped loudly. My old pokedex, the one I had left with the imprisoned scientist so he could message Professor Oak, was right there in the box. I held it in my hands trembling. I was deeply ashamed that I was forced to leave it behind to save myself, and was worried I would never be able to recover it again.

"Ah, I take it all is well?" asked Alex, unaware of my inner turmoil.

I opened the envelope first. A folded note fell out of it.

 _"I found this unusual device with Dr. Felix Lome,"_ it read. _"After hearing a description of his savior and checking in with Samuel Oak, I thought the least I could do was to return this device to its rightful owner. Worry not my friend, your name and involvement in the Mt. Moon affair is only known to me, Samuel, and Felix. You may continue your journey without fear of any retribution from the criminal parties. They will soon be caught and brought to justice."_

 _"You have done me a favor Trainer Red, by putting a stop to such malicious activity so near my city. I have pulled some strings and hastened the process of reacquiring yourself a new trainer card. I also took the liberty of adding my personal number to your dex. I leave it with this note in Cerulean, hoping it is indeed your next destination. Farewell, and thank you. B."_

So, Brock felt grateful to me. I involuntarily shrugged, it wasn't as if I had done this for him. I could only assume that this Dr. Felix Lome was the prisoner those miners had. It was nice of them both to keep my name out of this mess, but if I were actually worried about revenge from Jessie and James, I wouldn't have given them my name freely.

My eyes blazed as I remembered those two. I didn't care about their other crimes, they were the reason Poka, my mankey, and the clefable were dead. I waited our next encounter eagerly, although I would prefer it not to be underground, and after I had built myself a full team.

"Every- everything alright Mr. Red?" Alex asked.

I shook my head and took out my pokedex. The familiar cold of the metal casing greeted me. It came to life with a small ping sound as I opened it. A message awaited me.

 _"No matter the reasons, if you ever lose my technology again, I guarantee illegal operatives will be the least of your worries. S. Oak"_

 _"P.S. The gratitude Dr. Lome feels towards you is immense. He works at Cinnabar Labs, and wanted me to tell you that if your journey should ever land you on Cinnabar Island, you would be always welcome to drop by and visit him. I suggest you take his offer, since the road you are on will require all the support you can get, and in my experience, it never hurts having accomplished scientists in your corner..."_

I guessed this was the best response I could hope from the professor, considering I did leave state of art technology lying around. I vowed to myself to treat my dex with more care from now on.

I stood up and motioned Pikachu out with my head. Alex stood up too and offered his hand.

"I hope our service was satisfactory Mr. Red. Is there anything else I could help you with?"

Now that I thought about it, there actually was. I pulled the moon stone out of my pocket and dropped it on the table. It made a heavy thump.

Alex stared at the large, glowing, alien stone for a good two minutes. I broke the silence.

"I need a trade. How much credits can the league offer me?"

Alex slowly raised his eyes. "It- it, depends on how this was obtained."

I allowed a small grin on my face. "Would you believe me if I said I just found it lying out there?"

Alex shook his head. "Still, an investigation will be necessary. You will need to pinpoint where you found it, so we can go and check if there's mining potential. Also, if there's indeed a branch of stones there, you might get finder's share from the eventual profit of the mining business. I'm sorry, my department doesn't handle these things, but I'll pitch you to Percy from Natural Resources, he's a friend, he can-"

"Alex, Alex," I cut him mid-sentence. "All I need is some credits enough to restock my supplies and to pay for two to three weeks of lodging. I don't want to go through all that paperwork for _one single stone._ Trust me, there's not more at where this one came from."

I bent a bit forward, bringing my face closer to his. "I could have taken this to the streets, you know. Gotten paid in cash, no questions asked. But I did the right thing and brought it here, an official league building. Come on Alex, I don't want to waste neither my, nor the government's time leading them on a chase for a ghost mine."

Alex was still silent. _A final push._

I winked. "You already know that I'm... connected. You would be helping me immensely if we did this quiet, Alex. Help which I could repay. I can put in a good word for you with higher ups."

Finally defeated, Alex sighed. He dialed a number on his dex. "Yeah hey, Per. Listen, I need a favor..."

))(())((

"You know what," I said to Pikachu. "I never appreciated the comfort of clothes _that actually fit_ before. From now on it's on my list of things to be grateful for."

Pikachu snorted.

We were in our motel room, and after a long overdue shower, I put on the new clothes I had bought. I checked myself in the mirror, jeans and a black shirt, the classic combo of one who hated dressing. I had also bought a red jacket and cap. The cap had been a last-minute buy, I figured it would be helpful to avoid recognition.

There was a reason I had exchanged my stone at a government office rather than the black market. I thought that any criminal organization capable of putting together an operation like the one in Mt. Moon was probably on the lookout for Pokemon Trainer Red. If I had traded outside league regulations, talk of a lone trainer selling a moon stone would eventually reach the wrong sort of crowd, which was something I did not fear, but still wished to avoid.

The price Alex had offered me was less than what the stone was worth, but it was enough for all my needs, so I had accepted. After exiting his office, I had spent the entire day shopping, and only now had the time to relax and analyze my situation. Childish, perhaps, but I jumped on the motel bed a couple times before lying down still, appreciating the softness and bounciness. Looking as if he felt left out, Pikachu also took his place next to me in the bed. I began scratching between his ears as I opened my dex.

"Let's see what we've missed so far," I said while searching worthwhile stories online. "Hmm, nothing about our little side adventure in the mountains. The league is probably keeping the story quiet. Huh, there is this one article about the Mt. Moon tunnels not being depleted of resources as initially thought. I guess eventually someone is going to start a legal business there."

I sadly thought of the clefairy. Their sanctuary would probably be under threat of discovery again, and if any Plateau approved business settled there, I was sure they wouldn't be able to fight off league issued trainers. The moon stones would be carved out, hindering the fairies' growth and evolution, and their miracle lagoon would be kept closed under research.

I didn't know why this bothered me that much, the progress of men had always been at the expense of the wild, thus was the way. Yet something made my stomach feel all twisted. I guessed I still felt owed to the clefairy.

Sighing, I continued checking my dex. "It says here the Pewter-Cerulean ferry will open in three days. Then we made the right choice travelling under the mountain after all, otherwise we'd still be stuck in Pewter for another three days. Maybe even longer..."

I had the sneaking suspicion that the Mt. Moon organization and this league operation on the river were connected somehow. It was too much of a coincidence that one ended right after the other was busted. _Thoughts for another day._

"Look, there's news of us: _Rookie Pokemon Trainer Red Breaks League Record!_ _Seventeen-year-old trainer from Pallet Town defeats Pewter Gym Leader Brock a mere 22 days after graduation, a feat unheard of-_ ugh, I don't like this. Then again, the added public recognition might shield us from the likes of Jessie and James."

My eyes paused on the line " _a mere 22 days_ " I tried calculating how much time had passed since I left Pallet. _Twenty-two days, from Pallet, till I defeated Brock. I got attacked by the bats on my eighth day in the tunnels. The date I got arrested tells me my time with the fairies were nine days. Another two days spent in jail. That makes forty-one days. Nearly a month and half._

I looked down to myself. Had it really been that long? But it was true, I could tell from my own body. Ignoring the scars, a month of vigorous exercise on the road had toughened me up, making my muscles more visible. Even Pikachu looked larger than the day he was issued as my starter.

I scrolled down further, trying to find more interesting feeds. "It's surprising there's nothing here about Blue. I mean, knowing him, he should have also won a badge by now, did he not challenge any gyms, or did he somehow keep the press out of it? I doubt it though, he's the kind to announce his victories."

I switched my search from national news to local. "Oh. This is interesting. Cerulean's annual Nugget Tournament is up in two days. Apparently, it's a regional tournament for rookie trainers and the winning prize is a golden nugget worth approximately, wow, five thousand credits. Hmm, it's not like we need the extra cash, but this could increase our battling experience. We might even learn a few tricks before challenging Misty." I looked at Pikachu. "What do you say? Want to zap something other than killer bats and criminals?"

Pikachu slightly, but enthusiastically shocked me.

"Alright then." I stood up. "Let's go register."

))(())((

Cerulean was beautiful. It was night after we registered our names, and we were out discovering the city. We walked along the many canals that split the streets, the water playfully reflecting the stars in the sky. Even though it was a weekday and the hour was late, the city nightlife was still active, laughter and cheering could be heard from almost every corner. The street lights were on, each shone in a different color of blue, making the pavements seem as if we were exploring underwater. Delicious smells of freshwater fish pokemon being prepared rose from numerous restaurants. A group of Hoennese tourists were speaking in their own fast paced language among themselves in front of a bar, probably discussing if they should enter or search for another one. They decided on going in after a rather attractive group of the local women entered.

Both Pikachu's and my spirits were lifted. _We needed this,_ I thought. The long walk to Pewter, the stress of battling Brock, and the near two weeks of depression we spent underground... A city like Cerulean could offer us our much-needed rest. I hadn't given up on my goal of becoming the champion in three years, but I also knew the importance of taking breaks when needed. These two days till the Nugget Tournament started would do. I planned on winning that tournament and challenging Misty after.

"Let's enjoy these two days buddy," I told Pikachu, who instead of travelling on my shoulder was walking next to me on all fours. He growled pleasurably.

Our walk eventually led us to one of the main canals that split the city. Small fires were lit along the water side, and groups of friends gathered around them. I sat on one of the benches and admired the view of flowing water. Pikachu curled between my legs and yawned loudly. I reached down and began scratching between his ears. A minute later I could hear him snoring.

I sat at that spot for a good hour. As time passed, slowly the groups of friends began dissolving, and one by one the people left, leaving only me and the small fires behind. I enjoyed the quiet and the cool night air, but the hour was now quite late, and the walk back to my motel was long. I intended to stand up and leave, but something about this spot was just so... peaceful. _Maybe a minute more,_ I thought to myself.

"Hello."

The cheerful voice woke me up, I wasn't even aware I had dozed off. Startled, I saw the owner of the voice, a girl about my age sitting next to me, her face covered in freckles visible even in the dim light the small fires provided against the dark of the night. Her hair was beautifully red, but also long and unkempt, it dangled down from her shoulders. Her clothes looked old, there was a patch sewn on her left knee, and they were a bit too tight on her body, but they kept her modestly covered.

I realized I had been staring a tad too long for what passed as appropriate and fixed my eyes back on the river. I was bothered that she had woken me up, and if I were to be truthful, my past experiences in communicating normally with the fairer sex had been... none. It wasn't that I was shy or didn't feel attraction, it was just that up until now, people had always bored me; aside from a few exceptions, people had always been predictable. It was hard to have any connection with anyone, especially with a girl, when nothing they did was beyond your expectations. When nothing surprised you, nothing also _excited_ you, and so, during school, when my peers were interested in building relationships, I mostly busied myself with training, training, and training, pokemon battling being my only obsession. The only female I had ever started conversing with outside of necessity had been Daisy Oak, who was close to me like family.

"Nice weather tonight, yes?" The girl ignored me not greeting her and kept talking. I briefly considered leaving but didn't want to wake Pikachu up. "My name is Melanie," she continued. "Melanie Under-The-Bridge. But sometimes I'm Melanie Get-Out-Of-Here. Or Poor-Melanie. Or Crazy-Melanie. But always Melanie. Melanie. That's my name. Melanie." She got up and bent over the waist in front of me, her face inches away from mine. "Melanie, this is Red. Red this is Melanie. Nice to meet you!" She began giggling uncontrollably and dropped to the floor on her back, rolling with laughter.

I was nailed still. _What the- how does she know my name?_ I stood up alarmed and gently kicked Pikachu. He woke up quickly and took his place between me and the deranged girl. His fur crackled, and he began growling. I myself was on full alert and cursing my stupidity, here I was, alone in the middle of the night in an unknown city, right after I had helped taken down a criminal operation, which knew my name and face. This girl had to be an agent of some kind, there was no way she was a fan recognizing me from the video of my battle with Brock, not with my face scarred by Venus, and not while I was wearing my cap. I was considering my options, was she truly alone here, was she armed, or-

"Ohhhh, a pikachu, no, wait, I'm sorry, excuse me, sorry, I meant Pikachu," she said between laughs. Like a poochyena pup she rolled over her belly and faced Pikachu. "Hello Pikachu. Melanie, this is Pikachu, Pikachu this is Melanie! Nice to meet you!" She extended her hand to Pikachu, then pulled back. "Sparky, sparky, ouchie, ouchie!"

I stared at her. If she worked for my enemies, well, I simply couldn't see what sort of game she was playing. Forcing myself to act calm, I sat back on the bench. Pikachu stopped flashing his fur, but he was still cautious of the girl and remained crouched. Half a minute's pause passed between us, then I broke the silence.

"Who are you?"

"I told you. I'm Melanie. And these are Mel and Anie. I named them myself. Mel and Anie, meet Red and Pikachu. Pikachu and Red, meet Anie and Mel!" She stood up and politely straightened the front of her clothes. Behind her, two small shapes emerged.

My jaw dropped as the sandshrew and oddish took their places next to Melanie. It wasn't that they were threatening, with the oddish's shriveled up leaves and the sandshrew's pale color, they didn't look strong. What surprised me was the fact that neither Pikachu nor I had sensed them coming, an oddish, being part grass, always carried a particular smell around it that alerted others to its presence, and sandshrew weren't the lightest of pokemon, there was no way we couldn't have heard it coming in this quiet of a night. I gave a sideways glance at Pikachu who returned my look. But Melanie wasn't out of surprises.

"And _she_ is Callidora. But sometimes Alli. I named her myself," Melanie said proudly "You can come out now Alli!" Nothing happened, and I swore I could hear kricketots chirping in the distance. Melanie looked flustered, then smiled. She whispered towards me "She is not like us. She is smart." Her smile dropped, but meanwhile she gave me a playful wink as she stomped her foot. "Alli please come out, Alli, please, please, pretty please, Alli, come on!" she begged. The oddish and sandshrew - Mel and Anie - joined in her cries. They kept begging to no one out there, making me feel... I didn't know what I felt, never was I confronted with such a weird situation.

"Yaay!" yelled Melanie and clapped her hands. I couldn't see anything until Melanie pointed the river. The water near the shore was in ripples, and slowly something began rising out.

The red eyes were the first to greet me, followed by a short, rounded snout with a wide mouth. On her short, stout legs she shook the water off of herself and began marching towards us. Atop the green, patched back was a large, beautifully pink bud, resting on a nest made of leafy fronds.

 _The seed pokemon..._

The ivysaur walked near us and proudly stood near her owner. She looked up at me once with defiant, _intelligent_ eyes, and then lowered her gaze towards her comrades. As if practiced before, Anie the sandshrew rolled on her back, her feet dwindling up in the air. Next, Callidora did something very strange. She began nibbling on the sandshrew's feet. I squinted my eyes in an effort to inspect more carefully - there, stuck on the bottoms of the sandshrew's feet, were small, mushy seeds, which were the reason the sandshrew could walk so silently. Those seeds, which no doubt Callidora had planted on Anie beforehand, had muffled the sandshrew's steps enough that not even Pikachu could have heard her. Now that they were unnecessary, the ivysaur was taking them back, by feasting on them.

I then noticed that I could smell both the oddish and the ivysaur now. I looked at Callidora with new found interest, all this time, had this pokemon been masking their scents with various counter odors? An ivysaur could produce various smells depending on its diet, had Callidora somehow found out and ingested the right enough ingredients to cloak her scent, the one give away of grass and poison types? Impressed as I was, I was curious to why she had taken these counter measures against detection.

"Callidora, meet Red and Pikachu. Pikachu and Red, meet Callidora!" chirped Melanie. "Now, let's go, let's go, before the solgaleo rises, hurry!" She began darting along the river road, her merry company of three pokemon following her.

 _Before the what rises?_ I barely thought as Melanie turned back and yelled, "Hurry!" I looked down at Pikachu, who looked back up. I shrugged.

 _It's not like we have anything better to do._

We followed Melanie.

))(())((

"I see... Melanie Under-The-Bridge, was it?" I asked.

We were, quite literally, under one of the bridges which crossed over one of the narrow rivers flowing through the city. Melanie had built herself a makeshift home here and was currently trying to light a small gas lamp. The small flame flickered once, twice, then caught fire and lit. Satisfied, she placed it between us and looked up, smiling.

Involuntarily, I gasped - I couldn't help myself. This was the first time I saw Melanie under clear light and, well, I noticed how wrong I had been by suspecting her an enemy.

Melanie was sick. The freckles on her face, they weren't freckles. They were huge, reddish spots, looking as if something she was allergic to had been rubbed all over her. But, given what she talked about earlier, and how she talked, I guessed the reason for those spots weren't allergies. They were a mutagenic reaction to her condition, a condition that was not contagious, but had still forced her to live away from society, homeless and alone.

Melanie was psychic, explaining her knowledge of my name. In this world of pokemon, where men and elemental beasts lived side to side for centuries, there were bound to be some crossovers to happen. Just as there were an extremely small number of beasts that had inherited certain human characteristics, such as language, there were also a small number of humans that had gained certain _powers_ , for the lack of a better descriptive. The league always kept these mutates of both sides under strict control; pokemon with human characteristics were eliminated on sight, and humans were kept imprisoned if deemed dangerous, and released only when certain they could be an asset to the government, instead a problem. For example, Sabrina of Saffron City was the most famous and only mutant I knew of who lived her life freely.

I checked Melanie again, though she seemed not dangerous, she was definitely unstable, someone the league would lock up without a second thought. Suddenly, the secretive attitude of Callidora made sense. I felt respect towards the ivysaur, without a doubt she was the reason that Melanie had been able to live so long without being detected. The street-smart ivysaur had been taking care of her owner and companions for Arceus knows how long. I was sure it was her who had found this hiding place, and it was her who had been stealing enough resources for them to live their lives.

"I told you, Callidora is really, reaally smart," Melanie said. "She'll help you a lot later."

 _She'll help me - what?_ This conversation was happening on a different dimension, one I couldn't follow. Plus, I wasn't still done feeling pity for Melanie, aside from being forced to live isolated from society, her body was also clearly failing her, not holding up to her mutagenic condition. I wondered how long it would take for that rash to cover her entire body, and worried if it was harmful in any other way, if it would for example maim, or, even worse, kil-

"That doesn't happen. Not yet. There is yet time for yveltal to come," Melanie answered my unspoken thoughts. She smiled sympathetically as if she were consoling me, and I couldn't help it, I smiled back. She giggled.

"Now Red, enough about me, let's talk about you, Mr. Lunala-kicker," she said.

 _I- who?_

"Mr. Lunala-kicker. That's my name for you. I named you. Because, you know, you kicked the lunala out of the rockets' hands," she explained, obviously frustrated I couldn't get the meaning behind her reasoning.

My mouth popped open "Huh?"

She rolled her eyes and began again "The rockets. They need the lunala. For ex." She looked at me in the eyes "Ex. Ex. Ex ex ex ex. That's why they need the lunala."

"I don't understand," I said, honestly. But she had already lost interest. Excited, and clapping, she began pointing the canal.

"Look, look, the solgaleo rises!" She laughed.

I looked and saw the canal beginning to reflect the day's first sunlight. "Oh, you mean the sun rises," I said, relieved that she made somewhat sense. I guessed she had learnt some words wrong, and she was replacing them with those she made up. Which meant her other words probably had some meaning too, only I was lacking the necessary key to decipher them. _Which means if I study her methodically, I might learn what the hell she's talking about_ , I thought excited. I was leaning in to question her in hopes of learning more of her odd language, when Pikachu's growl startled me.

I looked at him shocked. I had never heard him growl like that, not when I had threatened him with his ball, not when we were in Mt. Moon, never. And he was growling at Callidora.

Callidora in return seemed to ignore Pikachu. She had extended two vines from her back and was tugging on something on the "ceiling", something on the bottom of the bridge. She pulled one last time, and long drapes dropped down, effectively cutting us from view. The drapes were thick enough to block sunlight, and the dim gaslight became our only source of light.

 _How does this work?_ I thought, glancing up. I saw that the upper edge of the curtains was squeezed in through the cracks above us and under the bridge, effectively holding the heavy cloth in place. Before I could even wonder how Melanie and her band of pokemon had managed that, I realized Callidora was walking outside of our curtain tent. Curious, I followed her out and watched as she bent over and aimed her bud at the curtains. Her body convulsed, and I involuntarily shivered as I remembered how similar James' Venus had acted before spraying acid over me, but luckily Callidora's intentions were far more benign. The top of the bud slightly opened, and with three quiet pops, leech seeds were flung over towards the drapes. The small seeds hung on to the cloth and quickly began growing. A short moment later, just like how ivy would have grown on an entire wall given enough time, the light branches emerging from the seeds covered the entire drapes.

My jaw dropped in amazement. Using just a few simple tricks, Callidora had camouflaged Melanie's hideout from sight, like a magician, she had hidden Melanie's home behind a curtain that looked like a vine covered, over extended portion of the small bridge's leg. It wasn't perfect, when the wind blew hard the drapes would move, but given the materials, and keeping in mind the fact that no one would really inspect the underside of a small bridge in a whole city of canals, it was more than enough. My eyes teared as I realized this was how Melanie had spared her entire life; strolling outside only during nights and huddling in during the days to avoid detection.

Callidora gave me a gentle nudge with her head, and I walked back in through the curtains. The sandshrew and the oddish darted outside during the opening, and for the second time I met Melanie, my mouth popped open.

I might also add that my face reddened.

Pikachu was still growling.

I realized now that the red rash on Melanie's face had indeed covered parts of her entire body. I realized that because, well, Melanie was lying sideways, smiling towards me, entirely naked.

In a way, Pikachu's growls made sense now.

 _She's homeless, sick, and, well, crazy. Not to mention it's daytime out. There's no way this is going to happen._

Melanie began singing. "Melanie aand Red, sitting down a bridge, k-i-s-s-i-"

 _This is totally going to happen._

I kicked Pikachu out.

))(())((

The rules of the Nugget Tournament were simple: No above beta level threat Pokemon were allowed. The matches were 1vs1 single battles. Killing was not allowed. The first five matches were single-elimination rounds with opponents determined randomly. Afterwards the winners would all enter a second, double-elimination tournament. The final winner was awarded a golden nugget.

All in all, the Nugget Tournament was more like a city festival than an official tournament. On our first match, Pikachu and I made quick work of a young boy and his ekans. We won against a young girl and her nidoran next. Our third match was quite funny, we were up against another girl whose slowbro repeatedly refused to listen to her commands. But I had to admit, both me and the girl were surprised when her sluggish slowbro managed to move out of the way of one of Pikachu's thunderbolts. Missing against a slowbro of all pokemon made Pikachu a lot angry, but before he could charge up and this time seriously take aim, our opponent recalled her slowbro and gave up the match. "Useless," the girl later confessed to me. "I want to trade him and hoped to show him off during the tournament, but like I said, useless." I had a few suspicions about the slowbro's actual capabilities but kept them to myself.

Our fourth match was against a boy about my age. He was wearing a cut out, paper gyarados mask and a t-shirt which read "I Cerulean" and had a heart between the "I" and "Cerulean". He threw a jolteon out, which immediately excited me. This would mark the first time Pikachu going against a fellow electric type, and I wondered how he would do.

Pikachu and the jolteon stood against each other for one still moment, then Pikachu sent the first lightning bolt. The jolteon jumped out of the way with ease. _Fast,_ I thought, as Pikachu sent another bolt and the jolteon dodged it too. _Definitely faster than Pikachu,_ I admitted to myself.

The jolteon sent its first bolt, and it missed Pikachu by inches. I glanced at the trainer opposing me, despite his comical appearance, it was obvious he was capable and had trained his jolteon well. I felt my pulse rising, this was the first time in this tournament I was up against someone who knew what he was doing.

I tapped my microphone a few times and gave Pikachu a silent command. _Try tiring it out_. Pikachu increased the number of bolts he was sending, but at the same time my opponent gave a sharp whistle. The jolteon began moving even faster, it was literally dancing around the edges of Pikachu's attacks.

I bit my lips. _Too fast. Have to conserve Pikachu's juice and try something else out_. I tapped my mic again, and Pikachu stopped his assault. At the same time the boy gave two rapid whistles in succession, and this time the jolteon began sending bolts. I tapped twice. _Dodge._ Pikachu began running around, making it harder for the jolteon to aim. Still, it was the jolteon's bolt that made first contact, hitting Pikachu on his right side. Pikachu shuddered a second, but kept running, even sending a small surprise counter bolt back. The attack was clearly unexpected and hit the jolteon mid face. The attack didn't seem to effect the jolteon the slightest as it kept on sending lightning towards Pikachu.

 _How?_ There was no way that hit could have been that ineffective. Same type attacks never hurt the pokemon that much, but Pikachu's attack was dead on, right on the face, one we in the sports would comment as a critical hit. I tapped my microphone rapidly. _Stall while I think._ Pikachu lowered his speed, and took time to go on the offensive, but never full out, he kept a delicate balance between keeping distance, dodging, and attacking the same time. The jolteon had to move now too, and these two quick electric types began circling each other while sending thunder each other's way.

Our battle attracted a crowd, and soon people began cheering for both of us, this had so far been the most entertaining match the people had seen, two almost equal pokemon making flashy light shows. Meanwhile, I was thinking. _Pikachu's bolt hit - there's no mistaking that. So either that jolteon is incredibly good at hiding its pain or... Hmm, I see._ I tapped twice again, and Pikachu stopped attacking and only focused on dodging. _If I'm right, attacking it with electric harms us more than it._ I eyed the jolteon closely as I could, it was faster than Pikachu, but it didn't hit as hard, its bolt that had hit Pikachu hadn't injured him seriously. _Meaning this jolteon is a new jolteon, just evolved from an eevee, two or three weeks at best. Hasn't been an electric type for long, doesn't have enough juice compared to Pikachu who has always been an electric type. And if it just evolved, maybe it still hasn't gotten over the eevee frailty?_

Making my mind, I tapped once, short but loud. I could feel Pikachu about to grin if he had the necessary face muscles, this was a signal for his favorite attack. _Take the hits, power through, and make a contact attack._ Pikachu turned sharply, dug his feet into the soft ground, and lunged. As I suspected, the jolteon panicked for a moment and stood still, tried to shock Pikachu with all its juice left, but like the good soldier he was, Pikachu endured the thunder and jumped in the air high, jaw snapping. He landed on top of the jolteon, which gave a cry, but before Pikachu could get a bite in, my opponent recalled his pokemon.

The crowd cheered, and I gave the breath I was holding. I had suspected the jolteon to be a volt absorbing pokemon, that was why I had ordered Pikachu to stop attacking electrically, but instead directly. The fact that my battle-hardened Pikachu was physically superior had encouraged my plan, Pikachu, despite being slower, had more muscle and weight compared to the newly evolved jolteon.

Grinning, I picked Pikachu from the ground and put him on my shoulder. He licked my ear once. I checked him for injuries, he was hurt, especially because of the last round of lightning he had taken, but there was nothing that would leave permanent damage. "Good job," I muttered.

"Damn," an all too familiar voice said. "Took you long enough to win."

Having pulled his stupid mask aside, in front of me stood my childhood rival, and perhaps only friend, Blue. He grinned "What say you and I grab a drink after your last match?"

I could only nod.

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **First off, I'm incredibly sorry for the three-day delay from the promised date. I take holding on to my word seriously, and I apologize for straying from it.**

 **Thing is, life sometimes doesn't work out as expected. Like when you normally plan on publishing a new chapter on the 25th, you might end up getting infected with something nasty and having to spend Christmas and the following days in a hospital room away from your laptop. Sigh. Oh, merry past Christmas by the way.**

 **About this chapter: If you don't know who Rusty is, you haven't watched enough youtube. Dr. Felix Lome, get it, F(H)elix L(D)ome? (I suck at making up random names). Melanie is in the Pokemon Yellow games, and like here she has an oddish, a sandshrew, and a bulbasaur, which I took as an ivysaur to save some time. There's a small reference to the funny girl in the games who orders her slowbro to use headbutt and it ends up using something else, heh, she always cracks me up. The nugget bridge challenge in the games has five challengers, hence the five round single elimination rule. I tried explaining the critical hits in the game realistically, more on that later. Also, Cerulean is where the first mandatory rival fight happens since Pallet, so heeeeere's Blue! Jolteon is one of the three options Blue uses in Pokemon Yellow, so congrats to anyone (everyone) who guessed what Hope evolved into right!**

 **Next Chapter: Week of January 8th. (I know I normally update weekly, but come on, you don't expect me to update on January 1st, do you? It's the holidays for gosh sake, and I have plans. So see you guys in two weeks and I wish you all a happy new year!)**


	9. Chapter 7: Having the Blues

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER SEVEN

Having the Blues:

The charmeleon stood up again for probably the tenth time, and the crowd went wild.

I had thought that in a second-tier tournament like the Nugget Bridge Tournament the best match the people could had hoped to see would be between me and Blue. After all, we were both trainers of similar capabilities and had both entered with similar pokemon. Our match had had it all; suspense, strategy, flashy elemental attacks... The crowd had loved it.

Also, not to sound arrogant, but I had thought that after defeating Blue, I would have had the final prize in the bag. Yes, Pikachu was tired and hurt, but the competition wasn't that high, not with the ban on Alpha and Omega level pokemon. In a festive tournament like this, all trainers had for themselves was skill, not strength. So it wasn't that farfetched for Pikachu and me to win this.

I was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.

Pikachu was panting, and each of his attacks were doing less and less damage. His electrical charge was already running low due to four consecutive matches, and the wounds he had received from Blue's jolteon weren't to make light of either. Still, he was trying his best, keeping his distance from the monster in front of him and trying to dodge the unbelievably intense flames coming out of its mouth.

 _This is impossible,_ I thought as I watched the charmeleon stand up again after taking the full brunt of a last-minute attack from Pikachu. I had ordered him to go all out, release everything he had, discharge all of his built-up static. Na da. The charmeleon hadn't even tried to dodge, it had simply stood there, tanking it. It had fell for his knees for a moment, but now it was standing up again.

And that right there was actually the summary of our entire match. I had used every tactic I knew that could be applied against a charmeleon. _Don't attack from the back, beware the flaming tail. Never attack head on, its claws and fangs can rip you apart. Keep away and attack from the sides, thunderbolts are instantaneous whereas your opponent has to take aim with its head to spit fire. Shoot, then move around before it can target you. Eventually you'll tire it out._ Pikachu had executed my orders perfectly, he had zapped the charmeleon many times without getting caught in the return fire, but the charmeleon had never went permanently down. It had tanked all the hits and even outpaced Pikachu.

 _We're going to lose this._

I glanced at the charmeleon's trainer. A blonde boy in his early twenties, only a few years older than me. His skin was chalk white, and he had this habit of biting his lips. Dark circles surrounded his eyes, as if he hadn't slept the night before. He seemed nothing special and didn't have the aura of a confident trainer owning a monster like that charmeleon. In fact, I would bet that this was his first tournament match, he looked so nervous, eyeing the crowd nervously and fidgeting all over. He wasn't watching the match, or his opponents, Pikachu and me. I didn't think that he was even checking on his own pokemon. I made my mind, this was an incapable trainer who had lucked himself on a very strong pokemon, and whose only understanding of battling was to throw a ball and let the monster do the rest.

He disgusted me.

Yet when Pikachu just barely dodged another great fireball, which somehow never lost any of its intensity during the match, I knew what had to be done. Irritated, I slightly tapped my microphone five times. Pikachu, having never heard me give that order before, hesitated for a second and even let out a snarl that was directed at me, but when the charmeleon slashed with impossible speed at his side where Blue's jolteon had injured before, after a cry of pain, he too gave up. Limping, he ran out of the designated battle area and came near me, admitting his defeat. I caught the trainer across me sighing in relief.

The crowd politely applauded Pikachu and me, and then cheered loudly for the winner. I saw out of the corner of my eye Blue walking up and starting a conversation with the victor. Not wanting to have my defeat rubbed into my face more, I picked Pikachu up and walked away. "You did great," I muttered. "It's my fault. That thing was a beast, and I just couldn't think my way around it." Pikachu licked my hands, making me feel slightly less awful. I checked his injuries, his fur had small burn marks and part of his side was cut. I checked the wound, it wasn't deep, but still needed stitches. He was also shivering, probably because he was all out of charge. "C'mon," I said. "Let's get you to a pokecenter."

))(())((

"In local news, the Nugget Bridge Tournament has come to its end! After a day of exciting battles, the winner's nugget goes to Trainer Nolan, and his team of one, Dante the charmeleon. Nolan Tucker and Dante won every match in the tournament, but afterwards refused to give any comment. Nevertheless, we congratulate this young trainer and wish him well on his journey. Here is some edited footage of his batt-"

"Hey, let's turn that down, shall we?" said Blue.

The barman grunted, and lowered the volume of the small TV. I nodded in appreciation and took another sip of my beer. Pikachu was still at the pokecenter, the nurses had insisted that he stayed the night. I had thought of waiting, but Blue had found me there and convinced me to go out for a long overdue drink. I had agreed, but now I wasn't too happy about that decision, this was the first time since Pikachu and I were partnered we would be spending the night separately. I had gotten so accustomed to his presence that now I felt as if I was missing an arm and a leg.

"I think he cheated," Blue suddenly said.

I glanced at him questioningly.

"This trainer, Nolan. I think he cheated," Blue explained. "The way he battled against you... There's no way that guy knows what he's doing. After you guys' match, I went up to congratulate him, tried chatting him up, use the old Gary Oak charm, see how he raised such a fucking beast of a monster. I mean, you know better than anyone, that thing was invincible, how do you get a mon to become like that? Charmeleon aren't the sturdiest of mons y'know, there's no way it could take that much thunder, it's not like that thing is a blissey or something."

"Pikachu... was tired. His attacks weren't hundred percent," I argued back. "The quantity of his attacks were high, but not the quality. They probably didn't do a lot of damage. At least, that's the only explanation I got."

"You named your pikachu _Pikachu_? Arceus, you suck at names even more than I do." Blue snorted. "Can't wait to hear the rest of your team's names, do you call your butterfree _bug_?"

I stood silent.

Sensing me disturbed, Blue looked up. "Something I said?"

I choked out the words "Butterfree is not with me anymore. I traded him."

"Oh. Well, from that video of your match against Brock, it looked like it was a pretty decent mon. Still, I don't blame you for trading, no way it could have held up against the upper tier mons. And a butterfree who won against Diamondback, you probably got something good in return, didn't you? Don't get why you got so emotional," Blue said. "Unless... that's not what upset you?"

He knew me too fucking well.

We stood in silent for a few minutes, drinking our beers. Then, Blue finally asked the question I dreaded. "Red, where's the rest of your team?"

I took a long sip of my beer before putting my glass back on the bar. Fixing my eyes on the edge of the glass, I began telling Blue about my journey. I told him everything I had been up to since I left Pallet, how I caught a zigzagoon, how my bike got trashed in Viridian Forest, how I captured a mankey, venonat and metapod there. I skipped the details of my battle against Brock and explained my reasoning behind taking the Mt. Moon route. I told him the story of how I got Poka the nosepass, and how she and my mankey met their end by the zubat colony. I also told him about the clefairy, their hidden sanctuary, and their brave leader clefable, who had died at the hands of Jessie's arbok. I broadly touched upon the subject of our battle against the operation run by Jessie and James, and my torture at their hands. Finally, I finished my tale with how I got arrested in Cerulean and how I got my license and pokedex back.

To his credit, Blue listened to it all without interrupting. At the end, he gave a long whistle, shaking his head. "Another round," he addressed the barman. "If that story doesn't deserve another drink, I don't know what does." He raised his newly filled glass. "A toast," he said. "To Poka and that wild clefable, for without them, you wouldn't be alive today."

"I'll drink to that," I agreed, raising my own glass. "To Poka and the clefable."

"Now I get why you got so mushy after I mentioned your team," Blue said after drinking his share. "Couldn't have been easy to lose one. I'd get it if you want to just give up and return to Pallet."

I looked up at him. He had the hint of a daring grin on his face, as if he was testing me. "Fat chance," I muttered, making him laugh.

"Still, the most unbelievable thing in this story is that gramps let you have your dex back," Blue said. "I'd never imagine him the forgiving type. Then again, he always had a soft spot for you."

"I guess," I said. "I mean, soft is relative you know, like, a geodude is softer than a steelix. I _guess,_ yeah, he was relatively soft."

Blue heartily laughed.

"Speaking of the Oaks," I continued. "What's up with you? I've been checking some news on you and couldn't find a thing. It's been, what, forty, forty-two days since we left Pallet. No badge yet?"

"Nope," Blue calmly answered.

I eyed him suspiciously. "Then what?" I asked. "Did you change goals after seeing me break the Kanto record - fastest badge winner in Indigo, the media calls me that now, you know," I teased. "Wait, is that why you came to Cerulean, to battle against me in the tournament, to test yourself? To see if you had an ounce of hope winning, only for you and your jolteon to miserably lose against Pikachu and me?"

"Keep speaking shit and you might start believing it all Reddy boy," Blue answered. "What I told you was I didn't get a badge. I didn't tell you something like I lost."

"What?" I asked, now genuinely confused. The drinks might have had an influence on that though.

Blue rolled his eyes. "I'm saying I challenged Brock, and won. You know how you used many underhanded methods and two pokemon? I used only one. Against Graniteslice, his kabutops. Afterwards, well, I just refused the badge. He told me that if I refused it now, later I would have to challenge him again to acquire it. I looked him in the eye and told him I'd be ready to take him on, any time, any day," he said, as he wiped the foam of beer from his mouth with his sleeve.

"You're telling me," I asked, not wanting to believe. "You and your newly evolved jolteon took out a kabutops, an armored prehistoric predator trained by the best rock type trainer in Indigo, in a one on one match?" I looked him in the eye. "No way."

"Nah, for me and Hope, that would be impossible. You saw Hope, she's not a physical fighter, Graniteslice would have destroyed her," Blue replied while taking a pokeball out of his belt. "But for me and Vic, however, heh, I'd say he loved the challenge." He then released his pokemon.

Every customer in the bar screamed, and I fell out of my bar stool. I had never, ever felt the absence of Pikachu more than I felt now, with that horrid monstrosity in front of me.

"Red, let me introduce you to Invictus," Blue said, quite enjoying himself.

My mouth popped a silent oh. Big and scarred, Blue's heracross was intimidating. The meaning behind the challenging spark of its yellow eyes was clear, this was a monster that had killed, would kill, and wanted to kill. With one look I understood that in front of me was a fighter at the peak of its species, a pokemon befitting a champion.

"Now imagine," Blue said, as he recalled his heracross to its ball. "Imagine, if there wasn't a ban on the higher level pokemon in this tournament. Do you still think Pikachu could have won?"

I was saved from an answer when the barman kicked us out, screaming and threatening us with the cops. Not wanting a scene, I quietly stepped out, Blue trailing right behind me.

"Well, that went almost too well," I heard Blue say behind me. "We didn't even pay the tab. Might let Vic loose more often from here on out. Hey- wait up!" he called when he realized I kept walking.

Together, we kept walking in silent until we found a quiet spot near one of the canals separating the city. We sat on the nearest bench. Neither of us spoke, we watched the flowing water in silence. Half an hour passed, then an hour. During that time, I was aware of the fidgety glances Blue occasionally gave me, but I ignored them.

Finally, Blue broke the silence. "I still think he cheated."

I didn't say anything.

"We never settled that discussion. That guy with the charmeleon, what's his name, Nolan, yeah, I think he drugged his mon," he continued.

"There are no drugs that leave no aftereffect," I mechanically countered. "The charmeleon had no change in eye color, experienced no physical contractions, and did not lash out wildly. It just... stood there and attacked on instinct, exactly how a good mon with a bad trainer would behave. I think we both need to accept I lost fair and square."

Blue raised his eyebrows but didn't give a response. I decided to ask something that was weighing on my mind since I saw his heracross.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you defeat Brock only for the sake of it? Why would you not accept the badge?"

"Because, unlike you, I didn't enter this game half-cocked," he harshly said. "I have a plan. You see, I don't want to collect badges without a full team, and I know how to get a full team. I found Invictus, and I will find the other anomalies like him. The core, the checks, the counters of my team, I have plans for all. And I'll admit I was startled when I read about you winning against Brock so quickly, that I decided to also test myself. I went to Pewter, fought, and, guess what, won. That was all I needed. I declined the badge because I didn't want to alert other leaders and trainers to my presence, better to crush them all in one go after than spread it to time. Then I came here to Cerulean, in hopes of having battle with you, to test myself again. The opportunity presented itself, and I took it. That's pretty much it."

A small grin began building on my face, and soon it turned to laughter. "What?" asked Blue sharply.

"Nothing," I replied between breaths. "It's just that - well, I'll confess I was slightly intimidated that you took out Brock on a whim, with a wild mon you newly caught, in a physical battle. But, now I see that you really have been planning this for years, haven't you? I mean, so have I, but not to the extent of building a scenario for every possible teammate for every possible pokemon out there. And now I just realized that your eevee - Hope you said? - well, it isn't a coincidence that she evolved into a volt absorbing jolteon, is it?"

Bingo. I hit the mark. I could see Blue getting flustered. "You evolved your starter as a direct counter to mine, didn't you?" I continued. "And here's the punchline, you might've defeated Brock, but despite all your planning, all your calculations, at today's tournament, you lost to me. You and your starter lost to me and my starter, against whom you had specifically evolved and trained yours. Meaning even if all your other plans work out, and you get to defeat every single leader, the entire four, and even Lance himself, it doesn't mean jack shit if your plans fail against me." Grinning, I looked at him. "You have to see the joke in that," I finished.

Blue stood speechless for a record breakingly long moment, but then shrugged his shoulders. "I guess, you're right," he nonchalantly said, though I could see he was bothered. "But you have to keep in mind Hope isn't a finished product, she has loads of training to go through still. Not to mention, I've been busting my ass training not only her, but also Invictus, Sky, and Partner - my pidgeotto and raticate. Meanwhile, all this time, you've only focused on training one single pikachu, already born with the instincts of a fighter. So, Pikachu versus Hope, not exactly the fairest comparison, eh?"

I gave him that. "True." I nodded. "But irrelevant to the fact that in the end, you lost."

"Only the one battle Reddy boy, only the one. The real war between you and me, and its victor, heh, we'll see who it'll be in two years and ten and a half months. That is, if you survive that long with only one gamma level pokemon at your side, and an entire team of killers pursuing you - Jessie and James, was it?" Blue retorted.

"Oh, I'll survive," I said. "Those two however..." I left the sentence unfinished.

After giving me a glance, Blue began talking in a more serious tone "Look, Red. Joking and bantering aside, be careful. Back in the tunnels, it was smart of you to buy time until backup came, but here, out in the open? You need protection. From what you described, these guys are serious. Serious enough that it took one of the four, a leader, and an armed squad of Plateau trainers to make them retreat. And not only did you help stop these guys' operation, you also gave them your trainer's name, which while might have seemed pretty badass at the moment, was actually pretty dumb if you think about it."

His eyebrows rose in concern as he continued "And that's not even the most worrisome part. The fact that there's no mention of this bust in the news, that worries me. If, let's say, this Jessie and James were only there to mine moon stones, well, why would the league keep this quiet? You'd see headlights like 'Plateau puts stop to smugglers', interviews, discussions, etc. Anything to make it seem as the government works, am I right? But no, this story was kept shut. Which begs the question, why?"

"The only logical conclusion is that there is more to what Jessie and James were up to in those tunnels than just evolutionary stones. And that unknown part of this story is somehow connected to the league. In a bad way." Blue kept on brainstorming. "In other words, you probably pissed off a lot of strong players that day Red, players operating on both sides of the law. Now, if I didn't know you, I'd advise you to go to the press and blow this thing out. I'm sure this professor you saved, Dr. Lome, would back you up. The league would be forced to give an explanation, you'd get protection, and the good citizens of Indigo would be informed of a shadow organization in our midst."

I stared at Blue open mouth. It was sometimes easy to forget he was an Oak, but times like these, where his brain would process and analyze information faster than anyone I knew, I would be crudely reminded again, that my rival was not one to take lightly of. His assumptions were all logical, and were almost enough to convince me that reporting what I had witnessed was the right thing to do.

Almost.

"Then again, I know you," Blue continued with an annoyed look on his face. "You being the selfish prick you are, don't care about anything aside yourself and what is yours - Arceus help us all if you actually become champion. So I know for a fact that, instead of doing the right thing, you're going to continue your journey as if nothing happened, and deal with your problems later, on your own - because why ask help when you're out of your league? Who cares if there is some sort of hidden connection between our government and an unknown, dangerous organization? The people, they care? Screw the people, I'm Trainer Red, I don't caaaare, I haaaate people, bla bla blaaa..." Blue mockingly finished, imitating my voice.

I laughed. "Seems like you've got me all figured out."

Blue rolled his eyes. "Yeah, go ahead and laugh, I mean it's not like all you got for yourself is a pikachu and one badge against men with guns and killer pokemon. Wait, no, that _is_ actually all you've got for yourself. You're so full of it Red, but it's your ass that's on the line, not mine. All I can do is promise you that when I'm champion and in the power to do something, I'll take this threat much more seriously than you are right now."

" _If_ you become champion," I corrected him.

" _When_ I become champion, Mr. Smartass. Seriously, when did you get so witty and hung up on words?" Blue replied.

He wasn't actually expecting an answer, it was all playful banter, but I gave him one anyway. "After I met someone," I simply said.

Out of all the things I told him, this was probably the one that surprised him the most. "You. Met. Someone. Red, the people you've actually spoken with, heck, I bet I could count them with one hand. There's your mom, me, uh, Daisy, gramps, aaaaand, yep, no one else," Blue said. "May I learn the name of your latest acquaintance, you social beatifly, you."

That was when I told him all about Melanie, about how she lived, and why she had to live like that. I told him about her being psychic, and her pokemon. I realized a shadow drop on his face the more I kept talking, but, losing myself in conversation, I ignored it.

"She interests me. Mostly because of the way she speaks. She, uh, I don't know how to describe it, replaces words with some other made up words, I think. That makes her entire speech a giant puzzle, and I'm pretty sure, because of her gifts, her sentences have more meaning than she lets on. That's why I've been spending the last two nights with her, I'm trying to crack her code," I explained.

"Suuuuuuuure, trying to _crack her code_. Well, I guess it took a homeless and crazy chick for it to happen, but it was bound to happen eventually. Congratulations on finally getting some tail action, Red," Blue said, frowning, and with a tone I didn't appreciate.

I felt the blood rushing my cheeks, I hadn't told Blue about my other... activities with Melanie, but he was clever enough to figure it out. Not wanting my private life out in the open, I went on describing Melanie's unusual speech patterns. "Just the other day for example, during dawn, she used the word _solgaleo_. 'The solgaleo rises', that's what she said. It took me a while to understand she used the word solgaleo instead of the sun. Now, I don't know what that means, but... Blue? You okay?" I asked.

Blue's eyes were fixed on the water flowing in front of us. "Solgaleo. solgaleo. Solgaleo..." he kept muttering. He looked up at me. "Give me your dex," he said.

My interest weighing heavier than my reluctance to do so, I gave him my dex. He flipped it open. "You haven't been doing much homework Red," he muttered, pressing buttons on my dex rapidly. "Remember what gramps said about this dex: It includes all known pokemon, and updates itself as new ones are discovered."

"What? You mean solgaleo is the name of a pokemon? Impossible. I know all by name in the six regions," I said.

"Yeah, well, this one isn't in the six regions," Blue said, finally giving me my dex back.

My mouth popped open as I remembered the words of Professor Oak. _Programmed to update as newer species in Alola are being discovered._

The screen of my dex showed the photo of a primitive, wooden carving. An unknown pokemon that resembled a slightly overgrown male pyroar was pictured. Underneath was the word "Solgaleo" carved.

I scrolled down to the explanations: _"Not much is known about the locals' religious beliefs, they are not keen on sharing their 'gods' with foreigners, but from what I could decipher, like many primitive societies, they seem to be worshiping the sun and the moon. They see these two in the form of pokemon, Solgaleo and Lunala, of which the first I have taken a picture of - see above. I have yet to find either a drawing or any other kind of visual representation of its counterpart, Lunala. What's interesting to note is, that in their own language, they do not use the same word that means 'pokemon' in ours to define these two pokemon - they have another specific term for them. When asked if these two were treated differently because of their status of deities, none of their elders answered, save one who told me that they were 'other worldly', or 'from another dimension'. I pressed for more details, but the elder would say no more. I think I am done with this village, and I shall move on to the next, hoping for more answers. Samson Oak"_

Startled, I closed my dex. Blue began speaking again immediately. "That's how gramps got to add the Alolan list to our dexes, Samson Oak, the head explorer of the Alola expedition, is gramps' cousin. The question is-"

"Why does Melanie call the sun solgaleo?" I finished his sentence. Blue however, shook his head.

"That's not the main question Red. Nobody knows what's going on in Alola, no one except those who are already there, high ranking league and military officials, and people connected like gramps. And us. And only because gramps entrusted us with these dexes." Blue's voice was shaking. "So, the question is, _how_ is a homeless girl from Cerulean privy to knowledge that is not known to public? _How_ on earth does she know what a solgaleo is, let alone use it correctly? 'The solgaleo rises', that sentence only makes sense if you know that solgaleo _means_ the sun!"

"Not just solgaleo," I confessed. "She also has a nickname for me... Lunala-kicker." I shook the dex in my hand towards Blue. "Lunala kicker. According to Samson, lunala is the moon. Moon kicker. She told me I had kicked the lunala out of the rockets' hands. Meaning, I kicked the moon out of someone's grasp..." I couldn't finish my sentence, suddenly filled with understanding.

So was Blue. "She's talking about the Mt. Moon operation," Blue whispered. "You stopped people from mining moon stones. That's as close as you can get to kicking the moon out of someone's hands. Meaning, said someone is the-"

"Rockets." I finished him a second time. "Question is, are these guys actually named 'Rockets', or is there a double meaning to it, like the lunala and solgaleo thing?"

Blue groaned "How can you always ask the wrong questions Red? The question is not if these guys are actual rockets or not, it's _how the frickin hell does she know about them at all!_ "

A long pause passed between us. "She's psychic," I finally said. "She might have plucked the information out of me." Even as I said it, I knew I didn't believe it.

"No way. No human psychic can be that strong. She might read instantaneous thoughts like your name or your starter's name, but not something that happened to you days ago, she's not an alakazam." Blue shook his head. "Whatever she is, you have to talk to her again Red."

He looked me straight in the eyes. "There's more to this girl than what meets the eye."

))(())((

"The Champion is right. You need protection," Melanie said.

After my talk with Blue, I had gone to Melanie's shelter. I had initially planned on asking how she knew the things she knew, but she had had other plans for me, plans to which I had been more than willing to agree.

Needless to say, I hadn't gotten a word in all night, and dawn was just about to break before she dropped that little bomb on me. I broke our embrace and faced her.

"The Champion? You mean Lance?" I asked. "What's he right about?"

"Not the Triple Headed Dragon, no," Melanie answered. I thought I understood her nickname this time, Lance was after all famous for his triple dragonite. But that meant-

"Yes, your friend, the Champion. He was right. You need protection." She looked at me. "You need a team."

I could barely hear her, I hadn't gotten over her calling Blue "The Champion". I spat out almost aggressively "I will be the next Champion. Not Blue. Never Blue."

She looked at me sympathetically, but she made no comment. I felt slightly ashamed for raising my voice. "It's just... Melanie I know your condition." I held her hand in mine. "But when you give out information like this, making prophecies, speaking in riddles... It seems as if you are," I chose my words carefully, "more. And I can't help thinking, _was_ it a coincidence, that you found me two days ago by the canal?"

She turned her back towards me, ignoring my speech. "You have heart. You need five more. Also, a bench. A strong bench. Or you'll never leave the lagoon." she said.

"Okaaay, a bench. I'll look into it," I said, thinking about what she meant this time. The lagoon was obviously Cerulean City, what was this "bench" that I needed to leave?

"Don't look. You already know where to find it." She got up, and began putting on her torn clothes. "Also, follow the aurora, when in doubt."

"Got it. The aurora," I lied, I had no idea what this one was. I made a note in my mind to check my dex later, maybe it was another pokemon in Alola, or maybe she actually meant the northern lights.

Melanie stood still for a moment and her eyes went blank. "The aurora... is what made Melanie, Melanie," she whispered.

"What?" I jumped up, sensing what she said was important, maybe even something she wasn't supposed to, or even _allowed_ to say.

"What? Oh, your heart is waiting." She changed the subject.

I looked her over. I really wanted to press further about this aurora, but decided otherwise. Besides, it was now morning, and I had to pick up Pikachu - despite the night's many distractions, his absence was like a hole in my heart. _Oh. Wait. Heart. When she says heart, she means Pikachu. Gotcha,_ I thought.

"Listen, Melanie," I said. "I have to go now. I'm going to get Pikachu, and then I need to register my name at Misty's Gym. Afterwards though, I'll come back and maybe we can talk more about the... aurora? And maybe the Rockets? Is that okay?"

Melanie hummed to herself, not listening to me. Deciding now was as any a good time to leave, I was about to step out of the curtains that separated her hideout from the rest of the city, when suddenly I noticed something.

"Melanie, where are Mel and Anie? Where is Callidora?" I asked.

"Hmmmph? Oh, Mel and Anie are gone. But Alli is here, can't you see?" She gave me a dazzling smile.

"Right. Here. Ok. I'll take my leave," I muttered, and I made my way towards the pokecenter, where Pikachu awaited me.

))(())((

The nurses at the pokecenter told me they would bring Pikachu out in a minute. Judging that a minute's wait at a hospital would take more than an actual minute, I decided to check up Misty on my dex while waiting.

 _Misty,_ I read to myself. _Born in Cerulean City. She is one of the few leaders who made it to Victory Road as a trainer before being assigned to a Gym. One of Indigo's younger Leaders, she's also well known for her volunteer work at her city's orphanages. Her main team consists of: Blastoise. Golduck. Gyarados. Starmie. Quagsire. Floatzel. Her signature pokemon: Roulette the Starmie. Her starter: Rainy the Squirtle._

 _This team is a huge problem,_ I thought. Unlike Brock's team, which depended only on physical superiority, Misty's was incredibly versatile. All members of her team were amphibian, and one was even airborne, her gyarados, which I was sure she had added to her team because of not only of the omega level monster's sheer strength, but also because of it being a counter to grass types, a common water type weakness. Which was also probably why she had a quagsire, the water type pokemon had an insulated flubbery skin, making it the perfect electric type counter. Another pokemon that worried me was Roulette, her starmie. From watching logs of previous battles, I knew this laboratory bred mon was a huge threat, simply because no one could predict its attacks.

I remembered reading an article once specifically on Misty's starmie. The article was asking whether if it was ethical or not to bring experimented pokemon in to the championship games, and was using Roulette as an example. _Most pokemon are limited in their elemental attacks,_ the writer was arguing. _But some, due to either mutations, or cross breeding, gain access to other types' powers, meaning rarely_ , _in the wild, we might see, let's say, a psychic type like a gardevoir with ghost type specific characteristics, which it normally should never have. Naturally, this phenomenon has peaked scientists' interests, and using machines far too technical to describe in this article, some have even managed to artificially add one type of pokemon's ability to another's. A famous example would be Cerulean Gym's starmie, Roulette, who not only possesses the psychic, regenerative, and aquatic potential of its species', but can also produce electrical currents, drop the temperature of objects, store and release moonlight, boil water, and finally, concentrate its flash energy. Now, a monster like Roulette may be in the capable hands of a leader like Misty, but one has to ask the question, what happens when rookie trainers are allowed to simply buy such terrifying threats simply from their local research facility?_

I sighed and scrolled down my dex, trying to find Misty's Gym's rules for single badge trainers. There it was, Clause Fifteen stated that if the challenger had one badge, the battle would be a three to two single battle in favor of the challenger.

I visibly slumped in my chair, I had to battle and win against not one, but two from Misty's team? Doubt was about to fill my heart, when suddenly I heard the all too familiar snarl.

I jumped to my feet, and there he was, sprinting between people and running away from the yelling doctors, my starter, Pikachu. He raced his way towards me and finally jumped.

I caught him midair and fell on my back from the added weight. How, just how had I even survived a single night without him? Him in my arms now, licking my face, all my doubts were cleared.

We were Pikachu and Red. Our goal was higher than Misty, and cheesy as it may sound, we would never let anything stop us. "Missed you too buddy," I muttered, scratching his ears. He growled pleasurably. I stood up and looked at him again - had he grown even more? No, that was impossible, but the single night separated from him had allowed me to see him differently, I was so used to his presence that I hadn't even noticed that throughout our journey Pikachu had grown twice the size of regular pikachu, and I would dare say he was about half the size of a raichu, maybe even larger.

I grinned. Blue could collect all the beasts he wanted - the one I had next to me now? Wouldn't trade him for the lot of them.

"Excuse me." An angry voice interrupted our moment, and I came face to face with one of the doctors. "The amount of damage your Pikachu caused trying to escape, what kind of trainer are you?! Who's going to pay for all that!"

Still grinning, I went towards the registrar to pay for the damage Pikachu caused, apparently after being stitched up, he had ignored the doctors' advice of resting the night, and tried to fight his way out, resulting in a number of shocked nurses, one still knocked out happiny, many appliances breaking, and Pikachu himself being physically restrained.

And that was how I spent the rest of the money I got from trading my moon stone.

))(())((

"Oh. Oooh. You're Pokemon Trainer Red!" the receptionist at Cerulean Gym excitedly said, after checking my trainer's card.

I said nothing, only glanced questioningly. Pikachu next to my feet growled.

"Misty's been expecting you, ever since she heard you've been in her city," the receptionist explained, then leaned forward as if giving a secret. "She's tight with the Police Chief, and well, since you were..." She didn't finish her sentence, blushing.

I got it however. Misty being a Gym Leader, was probably informed of my arrest, a new trainer who had just begun building himself a name.

"Well then, when would you like to schedule a challenge?" she asked.

 _Wait, what? When would I like to schedule?_ "I thought _you_ were supposed to tell _me_ when there was an opening in her schedule, not the other way around," I asked.

"Normally, yes, but for you Misty told us to make an exception. Between you and me, she was delighted after watching your battle against Pewter's Leader, she told all of us aides that if you were to challenge her next, we were supposed to fit you in her schedule whenever it was suitable for you. She likes trainers that... well, know what they're doing," the receptionist answered.

This was a first. But everything the receptionist said was confirming my suspicions about Misty, she was a true leader, keeping an eye out for competition and wanting to test rookies like myself. Brock's parting words echoed in my mind, _no further leader will underestimate you._ She was definitely not going to go easy on me.

I wouldn't have had it any other way.

"Just to be clear. I can challenge Misty, whenever I want, right?" I asked. The answer was affirmative.

"Then I'll get back at you later," I said, and walked out of the gym, leaving the receptionist behind me surprised.

"What?" I asked when I saw Pikachu's questioning look. "This is different than when we were against Brock. First of all, we're now against not one, but two pokemon from a leader's team. Do you think you could take two Diamondbacks?"

I chuckled when I saw Pikachu actually pondering on the question. "We need more teammates. And a strategy. Our first badge match, I was ninety percent sure what pokemon Brock would use against me, that made it easy to prepare. This time I've got nothing, though she'll probably use her quagmire for one, because she knows I have you, an electric type," I explained. "Which means a grass type wouldn't hurt. Anyways, if we can challenge her whenever we want, best do it when we have an effective counter strategy."

Pikachu nodded, my explanations satisfying him. "You know what," I said. "Let's go see Melanie. She's dropped some interesting clues so far, and... Oh, wait, you were at the pokecenter. Well, see, here's what happened while you were gone..."

During our walk I told him everything he had missed, though I was sure he didn't get half of it, and also seemed not interested about anything regarding Melanie.

My guess was that he didn't like sharing me.

When we reached the bridge under which Melanie lived, I was stopped dead in my tracks.

The place was surrounded by a police band. Two officers were talking among themselves.

There was no sign of Melanie.

I forced myself to walk up towards them. "What happened here?" I asked in a funny voice I could not have imagined coming from me.

Something in my face might have prompted them to answer me seriously. "A case M. We got a tip on a homeless, dangerous mutant," the female officer said.

"Don't worry kid. She's locked up and on her way to the Plateau. She's not a danger to anyone anymore," her partner continued.

I turned my back, despite my vision going red with anger. Pikachu, so attuned to my emotions, looked up, worried.

I would not describe myself an emotional person. But there was something in losing your first... first what? Melanie was not my girlfriend. Three days was not enough for me to love her.

We were barely friends.

But she was _mine._ She was someone who interested me, when rarely anyone did.

She was important.

And now she was taken away for the very reason that made her exciting. For being unpredictable.

Because of something that wasn't her fault. Because of something she was born with.

Because of me.

Because deep down, despite everything else I felt right now, despite the sense of loss and sadness, the emotion that drowned all the others was _rage._

Because I knew who had tipped the police. Because I knew how he had done that, why he had done that.

Because I had told him so.

))(())((

I found him in the same bar we were in the last night. My punch landed right on his face.

He fell on the ground, blood spurting out of his nostril. "I guess I deserved that, but why the face?" Blue muttered.

He tried getting up, but Pikachu jumped on his chest, crouching and crackling his fur, growling, his jaw snapping.

Blue wisely decided against getting up.

I faced the barman. With one look, I convinced him to stay out of this. He gulped and began rubbing a dusty glass with his towel.

The bar was silent. All the customers were looking at us.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you were acting like a moron," Blue calmly answered, seemingly not bothered by Pikachu on him. "Because she was a threat to society."

"When I gave you my dex... you added a tracking function," I said.

"I did," he replied.

"You traced my location. You found out where she lived. Then you reported her."

"I did."

"You planned this the second I told you about her?"

"I did."

Pikachu shocked him.

His body spasmed, and his wide-open arms hit the floor up and down independent from his body. Foam came to his mouth, which he spat to the side.

Pikachu stopped.

"Do that again," Blue hoarsely whispered, panting. "Do that again Red, and we'll be having a very different conversation."

"Why?" I asked.

"Oh my fucking Arceus, _use your fucking head!_ " Blue screamed.

I signaled Pikachu. Except the shock didn't come.

Two pokeballs rolled from Blue's sides. And suddenly I was launched in the air.

Glass broke behind me as I was hurled outside the bar's window. Blue's heracross, Invictus, stood in front of me. With one meaty claw, he lifted me in the air. My feet dangling helplessly, I saw Invictus also stepping on Pikachu, pinning him down, with Hope in contact, absorbing every shock Pikachu was sending.

Blue stepped outside after a minute. "I paid for the broken glass. Also doubled it for his silence. So I guess you owe me."

"I. Am. Not. Joking." I spat out.

"Neither am I," Blue coldly replied. "If you don't understand why I did what I did, let me simplify. You, my rival, want to be a Champion. For no other reason than the sake of it. To prove somehow you are the best. That you are different."

"Me, I want it because I _believe_ in the title. I believe in this nation. Its people. I want to lead, not because of myself, because of them. If there were any other job I were qualified to do better, to _help_ more, I would do it. In a heartbeat. But there isn't. So this is my dream." Blue continued in a silent voice.

Worse part was, everything he was saying, he was meaning it. This _was_ his truth.

"When you believe in society and its structure, you work for it. If there's something you don't like, and believe me buddy, there's tons of it I don't like, you work for it to change. That's why I work as a trainer. With each battle, I get closer to the ultimate seat, to the power to right the wrongs. You, on the other hand..." He pointed his finger at me. "You _ignore_ society. There's something wrong going on, you don't give a damn. Tell me, Red, why didn't you report what you saw in Mt. Moon?"

I struggled to free myself from the heracross, which only made him grasp me harder.

"Don't bother. I'll tell you. Because you could give two shits if anyone gets hurt by them." Blue's voice level was rising. "And you know what? I actually respect that. You take care of your own, by yourself. You cross a serious criminal organization, challenge them directly, and refuse to hide behind the media, that takes balls. I don't _approve_ of your attitude, because I believe coming forth with this story would help society more. But Arceus damned I _respect_ your attitude, because this was something you witnessed, you experienced, in some forsaken tunnel road, away from humanity. Who am I to judge what you do with this knowledge, even though if it were me, I would do otherwise, and maybe even go in there again to find these clefairy's miracle fountain, just imagining how much it could improve our medical knowledge! But like I said, your story, your experience."

"Then you come forth, with this girl, this girl who is clearly unstable, who has psionic potential, who lives in one of Kanto's largest cities. She can _predict_ stuff for fuck's sake! And you think this individual should be best left alone? I draw the line there Red, because this doesn't _only_ involve you, it involves _everyone_ in Cerulean. What happens when, say, she goes mental one day and starts psychically attacking people?"

"She can't, she's not that strong," I managed to choke out, but Blue wasn't having it.

"But you don't know that! You don't know anything! And like always, instead of seeing this as a threat, a problem, you _ignore_ it, even _bed_ her! This, Red, this won't do. There's a reason why society has rules, why some of those simply have to be followed! See, as trainers, you and I know best, when it comes to the wild vs humanity, the wild _wins._ Even if you were to add the six realms together, how much fight do you think can they put against _an entire world of beasts?"_

Blue took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm explaining all this because you need to knock it in to your thick head the main philosophy behind our rules, our laws. They are designed to protect _humans_ from _threats_. Even the seemingly safe ones. _You_ claim that this girl Melanie is safe, despite the fact she can read minds, and knows stuff no one should know about, like the Alolan gods. Samson Oak has just learned about these deities' existences, yet she speaks of them as if she's known them forever. Deem her safe or not Red, you can't deny there's _potential_ there, and by alerting the authorities, I've at least made sure that _if_ she eventually snaps, no one will get hurt. And if there's no danger, then she's now in an institution, filled with people qualified to _help_ her, _heal_ her. She has a roof now above her head, and is getting fed three times a day. You hear me Red?" Blue almost pleaded with me. "I did this for everyone, including her."

"I hear you Blue. Loud and clear." I gritted through my teeth. "So far you've confessed you institutionalized a girl who hadn't done anything wrong, and given the chance that you would have raided the clefairy's sanctuary, just for _the greater good._ It's nice to see my rival aiming to be a different sort of Champion, only to act _just like all the others._ "

The heracross dropped me. Hard. I didn't make a sound though. Pikachu was also freed from his step, I checked for injuries and found none, aside his pride. I looked at Blue.

"See you at the summit Red. That's probably going to be the only time worth talking to you again," Blue said while recalling his pokemon. Then he turned his back and disappeared into the night.

))(())((

I had crawled under the police band, and was now sitting in Melanie's usual spot, watching the water flow. Pikachu was curled on my lap, but tried not to move and distract me, he respected my need to be alone in my thoughts.

I was shaken, to be honest. I didn't want to think about _him,_ but _he_ had made some valid points. Like how I only wanted the championship title for myself, just so that nobody else could have it.

 _He_ had today beaten me, not because of his pokemon being stronger, but because of his beliefs supporting his drive to be Champion. I, who was all drive, but no belief, had lost today's battle between us. It didn't matter who was _right,_ it only mattered that his arguments were supported by his whole body, soul, and mind. Compared to me, who was angry only just because, without anything behind it, he had won.

There was a lesson here today. Something that could be only learnt from the defeats that crushed your soul and not your body. Today I had learned, that having the potential to be great, having the capability of being great, and perhaps even actually becoming great, was not enough without meaning behind it.

Meaning, that until today I had not, but after now was becoming clear.

As were Melanie's words.

 _Alli is here. Can't you see?_

Almost automatically, I got up and begun climbing the underside of the small bridge. Pikachu looked to me from down below like I was crazy, but I knew what I was doing. I reached the spot where I could see the end of the curtains tucked in the cracks of the bridge, I tugged once, twice, and let them fall.

A soft thud confirmed my suspicions.

I dropped myself, hitting the ground. Quickly getting up, I walked towards the great drapes, and picked up the old pokeball.

With one press of a button, Callidora the ivysaur was released.

I sat down in front of her. Pikachu stood next to me.

"Your master is gone," I said. Her head fell a bit, and her red eyes shivered like candle light, but otherwise she gave no reaction.

 _She probably already knew._

"You've lived your entire life down here with her, at the bottom, but at least with meaning. I'm on my way up, and am only just finding my meaning." I reached out my palm. "I can't promise anything else, except I _will_ reach there. This one already knows." I gestured Pikachu forward. "That's why he follows me. So Callidora of Melanie Under-The-Bridge, I ask you, will you follow me?"

Her red eyes met mine, and after a minute that felt like eternity, a slippery thorny vine crept out of her back and surrounded mine.

I reached out and hugged her in close to my embrace. Pikachu fidgeted in his place, but otherwise didn't interrupt our moment.

My eyes were focused on the water, while my head was thinking.

 _I need to push forwards. That much I know._

 _I need to defeat Misty for that to happen. But even with an ivysaur and a pikachu, I still may not, she's too strong._

 _But Melanie said I already knew how to defeat her._

I forced myself to think on everything that had happened to me since I arrived in Cerulean.

The prison cell with Rusty.

Meeting Melanie.

The tournament.

Blue.

 _Wait. The tournament._

Could it be that easy? The answer was right there in front of me.

Because for all the strength of Misty's team, there was one thing it suffered from, all of her mons, in common. And it wasn't type weakness.

I grinned.

 _Pikachu is my heart. Melanie said I needed five more, because it takes six pokemon to make a main team._

 _But a main team is not enough._

 _I need a strong bench._

))(())((

 **Author's Note: Back from a two-and-a-half-week break, and with 2018's first chapter! Happy new year everyone.**

 **About this chapter:**

 **Let's see, this was a more dialogue heavy chapter, sorry for those who expected action. There was a much-needed confrontation between Red and Blue, and the first dialogue between them is actually a helpful summary of events for people who aren't binge reading.**

 **I'm dropping lots of terms like Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Omega, for pokemon power levels. Don't worry about them now, Blue will explain them in two chapters.**

 **If the first dialogue between Red and Blue is confusing, that's probably because it's not presented linearly, like instead of first let's discuss this and this then that, it's more like a circle, where the topic randomly changes for a moment and then returns to the same one. Because let's face it, I strive for realism, and that's usually the way real life conversations go.**

 **If you remember from Chapter One, Alola is still a newly discovered land without civilization, so there's that.**

 **Also, there is my interpretation of TMs. For those who don't know, TMs, like breeding, allow pokemon to learn attacks they normally can't. So that's what Red's talking to himself about while reading Misty's bio.**

 **Speaking of Misty, let's talk about Roulette. Now the way that article described Roulette is just a fancy way of me saying that starmie are the f*cking best. All those ability descriptions were actually me saying a starmie in the games can learn Psychic, Recover, HydroPump, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Dazzling Gleam, Scald, and Flash Cannon, that's seven different types of attacks, four different haxes (frozen, paralyzed, burned, confused), and a reliable recovery, plus rapid spin. I'm a fangirl when it comes to starmie.**

 **If you don't remember what's the problem with Melanie, last chapter Red explained why mutant humans like Melanie are forced to be driven away, though this chapter Blue also gave some pretty solid reasons.**

 **Here's something else, I think you the readers get a hint about the characters of Red and Blue here, and while both have their right points, you might realize Red is a more self-absorbed kind of guy than Blue. Now I am NOT saying this story will follow the games EXACTLY to a point, but these characters were inspired by the games. Think about it, in the games the player character Red defeats his lifelong rival on a whim to become champion, and then says f*ck it and retires to a mountain, crushing his childhood friend's dream, basically for nothing.**

 **Dick move Red, though that's why I like you enough to write.**

 **Finally, can anyone guess what Red's gonna pull up against Misty? (And I promise you, it's not parafusion, I think one special tactic against one leader is quite enough)**

 **Next Chapter: Finally, vs. Misty, and also back to our weekly updates! Expect a new chapter on January 21st.**


	10. Chapter 8: It's All Relative

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER EIGHT

It's All Relative:

"I don't know if you remember, but-"

"That you kicked my butt last day at the tournament? Suuure I remember. How'd you find me?"

"Unimportant and irrelevant. I want a trade."

"Uuuh, really? I mean, that's actually what I hoped for when I entered, but... Anyway, what's your offer? Can I have your pikachu?"

"..."

"Geeez, just a joke. What else you got?"

"Something other than a pokemon to trade."

"Credits? Sweet, I can work with that. How muc-"

"No, I currently don't have money."

"Then you can turn away and leave pal because I ain't interested in selling for free. I mean, OK, honestly, he's useless, but not that useless."

"My name."

"Uh, what?"

"Here's my license. My name. For a guarantee."

"...Oh. Oh. Yeah, sure. I've heard of you. Mew my luck, going up against you at the tournament, geez."

"..."

"Right, you were saying?"

"My name. As a guarantee. That I will win. Again."

"So... You're thinking some sort of split the profits sort of scenario. I lend him to you, you win, _if_ you win, we split, what fifty fifty?"

"Yes."

"..."

"..."

"Sixty forty. You're good, but the first time might've been a fluke, your name isn't guarantee _enough_ you'll win a second time. Plus, from what I understand, you desperately need my guy. So, sixty forty, or no deal, take it or leave it."

"... Deal."

"Cool. When's the match? I gotta watch this one live. Even if only to collect my interest."

))(())((

"Hello, you're back again! I have to say, Misty was furious when she heard you were here but didn't schedule a battle, and she has a tendency of taking out anger on the aides, so _please_ tell me you're here with a date in mind."

"Two weeks. Any time after two weeks."

"Allllright, I booked you on a Saturday, fifteen days from now. Good?"

"Good."

"It's also adapt time for advertising! This battle is going to attract lots!"

"..."

))(())((

It did.

Unlike my battle with Brock, the Cerulean City Gym's seats were mostly full. An enthusiastic crowd was cheering, meaninglessly increasing the noise, making any lesser trainer more likely to be distracted. I pulled my cap down, blocking my eyes, making it sure the crowd could never get a clear view of my face. Ironically, the more I tried to keep myself hidden, the more people began chanting my name, probably in hopes of a simple greeting, a wave or a smile.

I gave them none.

I glanced over the arena, it was incomparably different from Brock's. Instead of solid ground, the battlefield this time was a floating platform surrounded by pool water. It was expected of a water type trainer like Misty to build an arena that would work so advantageously for her, and I had prepared some counter measures against this.

Misty still hadn't shown up, right now she was late for exactly thirty-three minutes. I wondered if this was a deliberate tactic from her, to stress her opponents before the match even began. _Heh, actually, not a bad ploy,_ I thought, as another minute passed, the timer on my pokedex showing the numbers thirty-four. _Too bad it won't work on me._

Pikachu gave an unpleasant growl between my legs, and I reached down to scratch his back. His growls softened, but still had an edge to them. I could guess why, he wasn't happy with today's strategy, mainly because he wasn't going to be a huge part of it.

With my other hand, I lightly tapped the other two pokeballs on my belt. One belonged to Callidora, who had turned out to be quite the battler and a delightfully easy pokemon to train. Her fighting style was pretty dirty, with an end-justifies-the-means sort of quality to it, which I attributed to her life on the streets. During mock battles against Pikachu, she would feign defeat then attack from Pikachu's back, or taunt Pikachu to get close and blast him with itchy spores from her bud. This would happen more than often, because being a grass type, her body was not that much conductive and could take bolts from Pikachu all day. Having no other choice, Pikachu would have to move in close to attack physically, only to fall in to one trap or another, either a carefully placed hidden vine to wrap him up, or leech seeds to latch themselves on and drain his energy.

Needless to say, Pikachu and Callidora didn't like each other that much, which was common in teams that didn't share the same type, so I wasn't bothered. Besides, a little sibling rivalry would do them both good, Pikachu, who liked the direct approach more, could learn to broaden his view, and Callidora needed to increase her physical power, because the few times Pikachu had managed to pass all laid traps, he'd gotten his revenge. Badly. Callidora still had a nasty bite mark on her left foreleg.

Nevertheless, despite only having Callidora for two weeks, I was confident she could do her job today. I hadn't even needed to teach her much, her only major problem was taking aim against fast moving targets, and I was still working on correcting that, but if the first part of my plan against Misty went well, it wouldn't be an issue in today's match.

My fingers stopped on the second pokeball, containing my third pokemon, who was today's secret weapon, despite the fact that during the match, he would be literally doing nothing. I was banking a lot on this pokemon, and even owed sixty percent of my winnings from this match to his original owner. But the trade had been worth it. I had had my suspicions about this pokemon the first time Pikachu had gone against him, and it was rewarding to see them proven right. He was gifted with an ability rarely seen in his species, which opened up the possibility for a not that uncommon, but mostly never expected strategy. To execute it perfectly though, I had been training him specially these past two weeks in the forests of Route K24, where I had made camp since I didn't have the money to afford lodgings in the city.

Meaning, if I lost today, I would be under a lot of debt.

I stopped patting Pikachu when I heard the cheers from the crowd increase: The twin doors across me on the other side of the arena opened. I straightened up, put my game face on, and checked my pokedex, it read thirty-seven minutes. I reset the timer to zero.

Misty entered, a smile on her face so wide I could see it from here. She was wearing a baggy blue sweatshirt and mini shorts; as she moved, her shirt pulled up, making me see the two pokeballs. I tensed on the inside, which of her two monsters had she brought with? _Relax,_ I tried thinking. _One of them is definitely the quagsire, she'd be stupid not to use it knowing I have Pikachu. And the other is either her starmie or blastoise, in her other battles she's led with these two eight out of ten times. Why should she change now, and even if she did, my strategy applies to all of her team._

But I was lying to myself. Truth was, though my plan could be applied to her other pokemon, it worked best against only the starmie or blastoise lead, and in a match where a badge and my good name was on the line, I could only be comfortable in working the best frame.

"Laaadies and gentlemeeen, welcome to the Cerulean City Gym!" The aide's booming voice amplified by a microphone echoed in the gym. The crowd cheered even louder.

 _This is it._ Across me, I saw Misty waving towards me, and mouthing the words 'good luck'.

I did not return the gesture.

"Allow me to introduce you today's challenger, you might have heard of him on your TV, your radio, your dextops; a seventeen-year-old mysterious trainer from the sleepy suburbs of Pallet, a one badger who broke the Indigo record, and wielding the fiercest pikachu this nation has ever seen... Ladies and gentlemen, I. Give. You. Pokemooon Trainer Reeeeeeed!"

The crowd roared. I couldn't help but think, if they were this excited for _me_ , how did they behave when the more experienced trainers came to challenge, those with at least five or six badges won by combat. Then again, those were older and more experienced trainers, they had made their names through hard work and years of battle. Me, I was in the first sixty days of my trainer's career, and had already defeated one leader. Now this crowd was here to see if the first time was luck, or if I had some talent in my bones after all.

In other words, I was fresh meat to them.

Pikachu was circling around me, the atmosphere had excited him greatly, he was longing to battle. I pulled his tail sharply, I needed him calm. Making a grumbling sound, he sat on his bottom. The disappointed look on his face almost made me feel bad for him.

"And facing against this rookie trainer is: The Queen of Cerulean City, the Tomboyish Mermaid, the Pearl of our Lagoon... Let's hear it fooor, Gym Leader Mistyyyyyyyy!"

And the crowd exploded, if I thought they were loud before, it was nothing compared to the support they were giving now to the pride of their city. Even Misty looked embarrassed by their cheers, she was blushing as she waved back at the crowd.

"Today, Trainer Red will be challenging Leader Misty for his second badge. The rules of this gym for a second badge are simple. Single battle, where Misty will be using two of her pokemon, and the challenger Red will be allowed to use up to three."

 _It's not like I have more than three,_ I thought grimly.

"So, without any further ado, trainers, pick your pokeballs, take aim, aaaand three, two, one, throw!"

As if a curtain had been dropped down, the crowd, their noise, all of it disappeared in my head. I was focused on only the little red ball Misty had thrown into the arena, and I swore I could hear the locking mechanism pop open. Red energy poured out, and thoughts ran through my head at light speed.

 _Whatsitgoingtobepleasebetheblastoiseorthestarmiepleasetheblastoiseorthestarmie..._

A golden crown, atop which a red jewel was placed. A set of five tentacles surrounding the gold core and another set semi-attached on its back, making a total of ten violet colored arms.

 _The mysterious pokemon..._

"Misty's choice is her ace pokemon, Roulette the starmie! Whereas Red's choice seems to be, uh, his slowbro?!"

I had almost forgotten that I too had sent out a pokemon, so relieved I was that Misty had led with her starmie. Without a doubt there was reason for that, she knew none of my pokemon, except Pikachu, and against him she had to have picked her quagsire. It made strategic sense to conserve the quagsire last; since she did not know what other pokemon I was bringing in, if she had started with her quagsire and lost it early against something unexpected, there was a chance for Pikachu to sweep her team. So, sending out a strong scout was the smart choice, and after watching her other battle videos, I had learned that she usually led with either her ace or starter in such situations, either her starmie or blastoise, and I built my counter strategy with these two in mind.

Now, against Misty's ace, her strongest pokemon, her biological impossibility, against Roulette, stood my slow, fat, and dim pokemon, Paul the slowbro, which I had only known for two weeks.

I could see the insulted look on Misty's face. She was an expert of water types, nothing I could do with a slowbro could surprise her, there was no way of winning against her using Paul.

Which was why I was going to do nothing.

I clicked the timer on my pokedex. _Now we wait._

Over the past two weeks I had trained Paul to only do one thing.

And also to try to survive as long as possible while doing it.

The crowd and commentator grew silent, no doubt they were expecting some hidden gem to come out of Paul, who looked so ridiculous compared to Misty's majestic Roulette, flying and shining seven different colors at once. Even Misty had a tense look on her face, no doubt she was expecting something theatrical and grandiose based on my first league match.

Nope, I had nothing. But passing time was to my advantage. I checked the timer, I was thirty seconds in. _Let's see how long that will last._

Finally, at the forty-five second mark, Misty gave up on waiting. She didn't have to issue any type of command, that was the advantage of working with a psychic type, you could give orders by using your mind without your opponent noticing patterns.

Roulette opened up with a small, same type attack, telekinetically lifting up water from the pool, she hit Paul dead on with a moderately powerful stream of water. The force made Paul take two steps back, but otherwise he stood unaffected. His species had a hard time of sensing pain due to their slow metabolism, making them defensively good pokemon.

How good though could he fare against a leader's ace? I didn't have my hopes high.

My counter showed one minute.

A giggling sound from the seats interrupted the silence of the battle, a second one joined the first, and laughter being the contagious disease it is, soon spread to every spectator. I didn't blame them, this had turned out to be a pretty dull start to what was promised an epic battle.

Misty's brows were risen, and I knew she was pondering on an important question: Did I actually have a hidden strategy that she couldn't see, or was I really just a onetime lucky trainer? The look on her face showed that she was still leaning towards her first guess, she was suspecting something, but hadn't quite figured out what.

Meanwhile my timer showed one minute and fifteen seconds.

Roulette stopped midair, and its crown jewel blinked rapidly. The second set of arms on its back began whizzing and whirling, spinning three hundred sixty degrees at an incredible angular speed.

I knew what was coming, and only hoped Paul had braced himself too.

Though I doubted it.

The space surrounding Roulette began crackling, and I could see my guess confirmed when Pikachu sniffed the air hungrily between my legs. The ends of Roulette's front set of arms tipped at their edges, all five tentacles taking aim at my slowbro.

And then thunder was sent loose.

The blinding flash of electricity stopped the crowd's laughter and hurt my eyes for a stunning second. Even Pikachu looked impressed.

The high voltage electric attack, generated from the rotating arms of the starmie and the energy stored core, hit Paul so hard that he was sent flying out of the battlefield and splashed into the water. I leaned down frightened, was he, was he _dead_?

No, well, no, _not yet_. The slowbro, in spectacularly slow motion, swam near to the battle platform and climbed up. The entire front side of his body was blackened, the thunder had burned him hard. I was thinking that perhaps his body was actually lifeless but his mind had not caught up to it yet.

But Paul took one glance at Roulette, opened his wide mouth, and gave a loud burp.

I was sure this would be Misty's breaking point.

I was right.

"Enough scouting!" Misty snapped - I realized she was angry enough that she actually worded her command.

And Roulette unleashed hell.

I had to shield my eyes, the dancing color show in front of me was too bright. The sheer strength of Roulette's attacks was pushing me back on my platform, I had to grasp the metal bar in front of me to avoid being blown away, while the lighter Pikachu was clinging to my left leg.

I dared spreading my fingers and peek at the battlefield. Paul could not be seen through the rising steam of water, but above, Roulette was clear as crystal. Its core flashing every color on the spectrum, lightning bolts were raining down from its arms, not to mention flash energy pouring straight down the jewel. I could see the water on the left side of its target area frozen still, while on the right-side bubbles were dissolving and rising rapidly, icy water telekinetically shot in multiple streams from the left, and boiling water from the right. Occasionally, from the tip of one of the rapidly spinning set of arms a starry beam would be emitted, one which had a striking resemblance to the moon beam the clefable in Mt. Moon had used to cut boulders.

This, this was Roulette, the monster, the ace in Misty's sleeve; a water type pokemon so fast that it could send attacks rapidly and make it seem happen all at once, so deadly that it could switch between many elemental attacks and perform them just as well as their own pure respective typed species could. Thunder rained hard as if an electrivire had sent it, moonblasts mimicked those of a togekiss, water cooled and heated to temperatures only seen done by jynx and magmortar before, and flash energy sent in such intensity that one would suspect a magnezone behind it.

This was Roulette, and this was its true power. There was no direct counter to it, for how could one prepare against this laboratory bred monster that wielded not one, not two, but seven different elements? No one could.

Except maybe me.

 _I have to get Paul out of there,_ I thought and slammed the button signaling my wish to recall my pokemon.

Just as quickly as it had begun its onslaught, Roulette paused. The lights its body was emitting dimmed, and the second set of its tentacles stopped spinning.

After the smoke and steam cleared, Paul was finally seen. He was a mixture of red and black; any part of his body that wasn't burnt black, was bleeding profoundly. It was unbelievable, but he was still standing, only thanks to the trademark pain receptors of his species', the signals they sent to the pokemon's brain arrived so late that it would take sometimes nearly an hour for the pokemon to actually feel hurt.

But regardless of him feeling pain or not, there was a limit to his body, and with his flesh torn and skin ripped, his body shocked, frozen, and burnt, Paul had way exceeded that limit. My admiration for the pokemon grew as he managed one last defiant look at Misty before falling face down.

I calmly recalled him back and gave the ball to one of the waiting aides. The aide rushed out of the arena to get Paul quickly to a pokecenter. If he was quick, Paul would survive this encounter.

The atmosphere of the stadium had changed noticeably, the cheerful attitude of the crowd was long gone and if I listened carefully, I could even hear the voice of someone sobbing. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large group of spectators aiming to leave and across me Misty was had a disappointed look on her face, as if I had somehow let her down.

I could understand why everyone felt like that, nobody was unfamiliar with death in this sport, but it was one thing when two giants clashed at their best and the winner stood above the corpse of its opponent after a hard-fought battle, and a totally other thing when a seemingly incapable trainer sent a pokemon to its death against a far more superior foe and order nothing. Human hearts tended to root for the underdog, in this case Paul, and when the crushing heel of power stomped the weak so easily as Roulette had done this match, well, it tugged on the heartstrings of the lesser minded.

I for one shared no such sentimentality, for I could see what others could not in defeat. My experiences in Mt. Moon and with Blue taught me that sometimes, in order to win the war, you needed to lose the battle, sometimes even deliberately.

For I could see on my pokedex's counter that, despite being injured critically, Paul had survived a total of two minutes and thirty-seven seconds, and if he had done the single thing I had ordered him to do the entire time he was out on the field, Misty and Roulette were about to feel my heel this time.

I threw the ball that contained Callidora.

"Trainer Red's second choice will be his ivysaur." The announcer's deadpanned voice carried none of the enthusiasm from before.

Compared to Paul, who had just stood still and tried not to die the entire match, my ivysaur made a better first impression both on Misty and the crowd. The first thing she did once sent out was fasten her stand on the battlefield, because if Roulette managed to knock her into the water, there was no way she could survive a battle there against a water type. So she extended two large, thick vines from her back and wrapped them around the edges of the floating platform.

Unfortunately, this meant her speed would decrease greatly, there was no way she could keep up her mobility while being loosely tied by both ends. Not to mention her not being the most agile pokemon around, she might have been a sitting ducklett to Misty's blindingly fast starmie.

Which was obviously what Misty thought too when she ordered her starmie to attack directly. Water telekinetically rose from the pool, crystallized, and turned into large ice shards right in front of everyone's eyes. _Going directly for the type attack,_ I thought. _She must want to end this._

The thick icy spears lunged themselves at my ivysaur, almost as fast as the lightning Roulette was throwing earlier. I briefly caught the look Misty had on her face, she was bored, she felt cheated from the battle she deserved. Those ice spears would definitely connect and pierce my pokemon, killing her.

She looked so confident of the outcome, that I couldn't help breaking my character. Just before the tips of the icicles connected, I grinned and leaned forwards to my microphone, only to whisper "My turn."

I didn't know what I enjoyed more; the shocked gasps nearly a thousand viewers gave at the same time, the fact that Callidora was suddenly on the other side of the battle platform, directly under Roulette and far away from its target area, as if teleported there, or the number of razor sharp leaves sent from Callidora's bud splicing four of Roulette's arms off its body, showering the waters in blood.

Acting like the experienced trainer she was, Misty didn't hesitate giving a retreating command. She knew something had changed the tides of this battle, and until she figured out what, Roulette had to keep her distance from my ivysaur. Roulette let itself drop midair, and tried aiming for the water, where in the depths it could safely cover and wait for its trainer to come up with a strategy.

As if I was going to let that happen.

All starmie were fast, they were probably one of the fastest pokemon species in Indigo. And Roulette was extraordinary even compared to its own kind. There was just no way it could not make that drop into water, ivysaur were slow pokemon, and Callidora was no exception, there shouldn't have been anything I could do to stop Roulette from retreating.

Which made it all the more satisfying when multiple vines extended from Callidora, grabbing Roulette towards herself, changing its trajectory, and making it slam hard against the solid platform. At the same time more leaves were sent, two more of Roulette's tentacles were ripped off, and the pokemon gave out a gurgling cry from its core.

I tapped my microphone twice. _Go for the kill._

Cheers from the spectators increased as they witnessed a tugging war occurring in front of them; tangled in Callidora's vines, Roulette was trying to free itself and reach the safety of water, while Callidora was towing it towards herself. Pulled close enough, the mingled starmie gave out odd cries of pain when Callidora's bud opened and launched multiple seeds that quickly clung to the still remaining arms of Roulette, feasting on the pokemon's remaining energy and growing larger and heavier.

I checked Misty, all the while her pokemon was being slaughtered, she had this concentrated look. _How close is she to figuring it out?_ I wondered.

It turned out not to be that long. Having made her mind, I saw Misty's expression soften as she gave a silent command. Roulette, despite still being at the receiving end of my pokemon's attacks, flashed its core so bright that I had to close and shield my eyes again. Callidora also kept her eyes shut, but maintained the tight grip she had over the starmie.

 _What's she doing? Is she trying to drain her pokemon more?! What good is that doing, that won't make Callidora let her pokemon go, unless..._

 _Unless it's a distraction._

Pikachu under me gave a warning growl.

Cursing my stupidity, I blindly tapped my microphone once. _Dodge._ I didn't know what, but something was definitely coming.

And come it did.

The bright flash died, and I looked upon a picture of horror: Hundreds of icicles hanging midair, above and covering the entire battle platform. The split seconds Callidora and I had spent distracted were enough for Roulette to raise and freeze an unbelievably large amount of pool water into giant frost spears. And enough for it to let them drop.

Under normal circumstances, no pokemon I had could survive this. But Misty had probably guessed there was a chance that no pokemon on the battle field was under the effect of 'normal circumstances', which was probably why she had decided to test her suspicions with this abnormally large area attack.

And mew damn it, she was right.

Callidora let go of the starmie, and seemingly danced around each falling icicle. She was moving fast, too fast, _incredibly_ fast for any ivysaur to move; she managed to dodge all of the larger falling ice pieces while her two extended vines were slapping the smaller ones away so quickly that it looked like there were hundreds of vines coming out her back. In the end, although breathless from effort, she survived this wailord of an attack despite the size of it.

And the reason how she had done that was now clear to even the most thickest of spectators. The reason why Callidora looked as if she was moving so fast was _not_ because she was actually doing so.

It was because the ice spears _themselves_ were moving and dropping slow. It was because Roulette _itself_ was moving slow. In fact, right now in the battlefield, pretty much everything compared to Callidora was at slakoth pace. I had taken the greatest advantage Misty's starmie had over my ivysaur and made it mine to use: Speed.

And it was thanks to my slowbro, Paul.

It had all started during the Nugget Bridge Tournament, when I had noticed Paul the slowbro dodging Pikachu's thunderbolt. To put it simply, that was impossible to happen. Except it had just did. Meaning that there had to be an explanation behind it, and I could only offer one: Somehow, Paul the slowbro was born with an extra abilty not seen in his species', either due to an unusual parentage or an unknown past laboratory experiment.

Somehow, Paul had the ability to create a "trick room".

A trick room was normally a strategy a steel or rock core trainer would adopt. These types of pokemon were physically both tanky and strong, but lacked the essential agility to reach their enemies, making it easier to tire them out. In order to avoid that, a few capable trainers came up with the idea of supporting their slower teams with a psionic pokemon that could alter the dimensions in a limited space, like by using a porygon or a bronzong, they would be able to create a small "room" where speed would be _relatively_ reversed.

Meaning slower would be faster, and faster would be slower.

And that was essentially Misty's team's weakness. Except for her quagsire, whom I was sure she wouldn't lead with, every single one of her pokemon was faster than mine, with her starmie and blastoise being noticeably the two most fastest in her team. That was why I had wished for her to start with either of these two, because I knew these two would be the most effected in a trick room. That was also why I had needed Paul on my team, no matter the cost, because I knew I wouldn't be able to defeat Misty without tweaking the conditions a bit, without setting up in advance.

Like Melanie had said, I had needed a strong bench pokemon. If Paul lived after Roulette's attack, I knew he would never make it to the dream main team I hoped to have, during my two weeks of training him I had realized the pokemon had no offensive presence, limited psychic ability, and only above average defensive traits. But he made an exceptional back up pokemon with his species' trademark durability and his own unique trick. He was the perfect mon to train against my main team and support them when necessary.

Like he had during this match. There were time limits on created trick rooms, and complex math formulas to calculate how long they would last, but generally, the longer the pokemon concentrated on creating and maintaining one, the exponentially longer the room would exist. It had taken two weeks of me training Paul to perfect his hold on the room, and today he had lasted two minutes and thirty-seven seconds doing nothing, not even defending himself, but building the room. At the cost of his own safety, and if my calculations were correct, Paul had granted me roughly the equivalent of ten minutes and seven seconds where the speed dimensions would be altered.

Ten minutes where the versatile arsenal of Roulette could do no harm, because every blindingly fast thunderbolt, moon beam, and flash cannon it could throw at Callidora could be avoided with ease.

Ten minutes where Roulette's own speed would do itself no good, because no matter in which direction it would try to run, fly, or dive, Callidora could catch it, attack it, _hurt_ it.

Ten minutes where Callidora, normally the slower one, was now the faster one.

Ten minutes of which five had passed and Roulette still held on.

 _If it manages to survive another five minutes, the trick room will dissolve, and then..._

I tapped my mic twice again. _Kill it!_

Roulette had escaped Callidora's grip during the flash it emitted, but it didn't have the time enough to get underwater. Callidora's vines extended fast like bullets and dragged it back on ground. This time she pulled the starmie directly under her and began pounding on it with her vines while also cutting it with her leaves; soon the only thing left of the starmie was the bloody red core.

It surprised me that Misty wasn't ordering her pokemon anything, it wasn't struggling or trying to dodge, it just laid there taking the punishment. I couldn't understand what she was thinking.

But then the starmie's jewel glowed, and the ripped-out tentacles near its body reattached themselves. I couldn't believe it, in mere seconds, the starmie looked almost as good as it first begun this battle.

 _How? Recovery processes are never this fast, this isn't a snorlax, there's no way it could heal so quick-_

 _..._

 _Oh fuck._

I had fallen on my own sword, and the cocky grin Misty threw at me showed she knew it. Starmie were pokemon with remarkable healing prowess, every good trainer knew that. The slight problem was that it normally took time for an effective recovery to happen.

Time I had granted Misty by creating the trick room. The slow recovery process of the starmie now happened at a too fast pace.

Misty's plan wasn't doing nothing, it was stalling. Stalling until the room's effects ended, and then in a normal one on one match against Callidora, Roulette would definitely win.

I gritted my teeth. I could never allow that to happen. I tapped the mic twice again, but this time more rapidly. _Give it everything you have and more._

Callidora extended two, three, _four_ more vines and she began hitting the starmie with all of them like a hammer, I saw Roulette's jewel crack. Thorns grew from each of the vines, leaving scratches and cuts on Misty's pokemon's body. The fronds on Callidora's back pointed upright; every single razor leaf she had, she was unleashing them all, the limbs of the starmie were cut off almost instantly as they grew back. Callidora's bud was launching numerous seed bullets mixed with leech seeds, and she was also getting physical now, biting the starmie with her poisonous teeth.

But no matter how hard Callidora hit, the damned core of the starmie kept shining, albeit dimmer than before.

Neither Misty nor I had anything else left to do, the rest was up to our two pokemon. Either the starmie's energy would expend, making me the winner of this battle but not the match, or the starmie would hold out until the room faded, wipe the floor with Callidora, and then leave Pikachu alone to deal with her second pokemon.

A minute passed. The crowd was enjoying the violent beating, their roars echoed in the arena.

Another minute passed. Callidora still kept her tempo, the entire platform was covered in leaves and the bloody appendages of Roulette. Both Misty and I were leaning down expectantly.

One more minute. Pikachu gave a sound that was half a growl and a weep, if Callidora lost this one, he too knew we would lose the match, and there wouldn't be winning a second one, not with my tactic exposed. I couldn't keep my eyes away from my ivysaur.

The last two minutes until the room ended. Even the spectators were silent now; most of them not being trainers hadn't caught up upon my strategy, but still understood that the match had entered a crucial point.

The final sixty seconds. The blows Callidora were delivering had lost their earlier impact, my ivysaur was visibly panting from effort. Likewise, the jewel of the starmie flashed its colors only briefly now, having no energy left to spare.

 _Ten. Nine. Eight..._

Callidora was spasming. Roulette's jewel had lost all color.

 _Three. Two. One..._

Nothing happened, Callidora still kept hitting. Had I calculated wrong? Maybe the room would last longer, I felt my chances of winning rising-

A blast of psychic energy threw Callidora into the air. Losing her balance, she fell just at the edge of the platform sideways, a nasty crunching sound coming from her left hind leg. She screamed out in pain.

Roulette rose into the air, though it too was in no good shape. Only three of its ten arms remained, in the places of the remaining seven were ugly wounds. Its core was scratched and the jewel was shattered, but still, the pokemon was floating, and judging from that kinetic blast, seemed to have enough to keep fighting.

Callidora couldn't get up on her feet yet, she was still in shock from pain. It was hopeless, all the hard work, all the planning was for nothing, I was going to lose-

The starmie fell back down on the platform. Its whole body was pulsing and the core was shaking violently. The remaining three arms twitched once, twice, then exploded as vines vigorously grew out of them from the inside, leaving the main jewel naked and without protection. The light blinked once, then died.

A stunned silence followed.

Misty recalled her pokemon, and gave the pokeball to a waiting aide, who disappeared from sight. Only Callidora was left on the battlefield, one leg broken and her side bruised.

I was speechless.

Misty cleared her throat with an audible "eh-hem" while looking at the announcer. The announcer, too stunned to speak, caught on late.

"Oh. _Oh._ Yeah, umm, ladies and gentlemen, Misty's starmie Roulette is unable to battle!"

The crowd, returned to real life by that booming voice, cheered loudly. They applauded both Misty and me, I could hear our names chanted over and over again. My interest laid elsewhere however.

I looked curiously at Callidora, who was trying to stand on three legs. Had she thought of planting some seeds into the starmie's body as a backup on her own? I didn't have any other explanation for that last-minute win.

My attention shifted when I noticed Misty throwing her second ball. _Damn it, that's right, one more to go._

"Misty's second pokemon will be Sponger, her quagsire!"

I sighed. Although her quagsire was the only sure pokemon I knew Misty would have brought to this match, and I had already planned some counter measures against it, at this point I would have preferred her to bring another water pokemon so that Pikachu could just sweep.

Not my lucky day apparently.

The electric blue pokemon rose his head and his eyes focused immediately on my wounded ivysaur. The quagsire looked quite large compared to my shriveled pokemon, and his entire body was toned and lean, there was no sight of the traditional flab of fat its lazy species normally had. Misty had worked this one well, and without a doubt he was monster.

But still, compared to Roulette, he looked almost as harmless as a caterpie.

Misty tapped her microphone once - now that her pokemon on the field had no psychic link, she had to actually give orders. Her pokemon, hearing the sound, charged towards Callidora.

I took a silent note in my mind that one tap meant "get close" for Misty.

I didn't give any command, we had trained for this beforehand with Callidora. She just braced herself and waited for Sponger the quagsire to get close, then tried binding him with vines. The quagsire just snapped them apart and kept moving, its physical strength was too great for the thin vines Callidora produced. With now about a third of the distance between the two left, Callidora shot her last remaining leech seeds, and half of them were swatted away by one giant meaty paw. The others however latched themselves on, but the quagsire rolled on his back without losing momentum, and when he got back up again I saw most of the leech seeds had fallen, only a handful remained attached, not enough to stop the quagsire's charge.

Misty had trained him well against grass types, none of the usual tactics worked. I had no doubt if rested Callidora would prove a suitable challenge for this gym monster, but tired and weakened, she had nothing to do but wait for Sponger to come close and attack.

Which was exactly what I aimed for.

Just as Sponger rose his body to drop on my pokemon, Callidora lunged forward and bit the stomach of the quagsire, hard. In pain, the quagsire stopped his body slam attack and instead knocked my ivysaur out with one curled paw, hitting her in the face.

Callidora was unconscious, but the damage she had done remained, I spotted purple goo oozing out of the wound on Sponger's belly. I pressed the button in front of me, wishing to recall my pokemon. "Good job," I muttered to Callidora's pokeball before giving it to an aide.

I nudged Pikachu forward. He semi enthusiastically jumped into the arena.

"Trainer Red's third and final pokemon is his starter, his pikachu!"

Everyone in the audience clapped and hollered on their feet, they knew Pikachu and how he had faced Diamondback the onix from videos, and they were expecting a grand battle.

I was going to disappoint them. And Pikachu wasn't happy about that either, I could see his frown. I couldn't help smirking; this was my starter, so passionate about battling, he would rather lose a match than win one unfairly.

It was a good thing I was the trainer and he the pokemon, and not vice versa.

Misty tapped her microphone once - _charge,_ I remembered. I tapped mine twice. _Dodge._

I almost thought Pikachu wasn't going to obey, but he sighed heavily, and backed away, keeping his distance. The quagsire tried increasing his speed, but Pikachu, using his superior agility just jumped around him to the other edge of the platform.

Misty caught on my tactic - it was simple really. Callidora had sunk her venomous teeth in Sponger's flesh deep, he was poisoned. All Pikachu had to do was to avoid getting hit and wait for the quagsire to fall. It didn't matter when exactly it would happen, no doubt a leader's pokemon had a strong constitution, but there was literally no way for Sponger to catch Pikachu, he was too fast and agile. Furthermore, Pikachu was conserving energy by not dishing out thunder; I had ordered him not to do that knowing it would fall without any effect on the quagsire.

It was a boring tactic, there was no fight involved, but it was a sure way to win. My only concern was that Pikachu would lose himself in passion and disobey orders, but he seemed to be doing well for now, running around and keeping his distance from Sponger.

Misty tapped her microphone three times - a new order. I watched her quagsire closely, what would he do?

Sponger moved closer to the edge of the platform, and dived in the pool. A minute later his head reappeared on the opposite side of Pikachu, his body still submerged, he shot a jet stream of water from his mouth at my starter. He would probably hit any lesser pokemon, but to my Pikachu, avoiding that attack was like taking a stroll on a sunny day.

I gave the breath I was holding in relief. If this was the best Misty could do with her quagsire, then the match was mine.

Apparently Misty thought so too. She ordered her quagsire the same tactic from different angles a few more times, but when Pikachu dodged all of them, seeing no sense in continuing a match she would eventually lose, she signaled her defeat, and recalled her pokemon.

"Trainer Red has won the battle!"

The crowd clapped politely, this second battle was less entertaining than the first, but I got the feeling they were happy with the outcome. I too was happy and even Misty looked satisfied with the way the battle had turned out.

Pikachu was probably the only one who hated this match though. He was growling and frustrated when he came near me. I chuckled and picked him up, then dropped him again forgetting how heavy and big he had gotten. "Don't make that face," I said. "Maybe tonight if Callidora won't need to stay at the pokecenter, I'll let you take a go at her."

That promise indeed made Pikachu stop growling. He still frowned though.

"C'mon," I said, hiding my laughter. "Let's go get our badge."

))(())((

Pikachu and I were in a small office, with Leader Misty herself right across us. Apparently, it was going to be a tradition for me that gym leaders themselves showed up to give me my badges.

"My aides have called - you should know your slowbro is in critical condition, the doctors have mended the wounds as much as they could, but the pain has finally hit the brain, your pokemon is in shock. They have hope though that after the feeling subsides, he will regain his health. They still advice a week of pokecenter stay though," Misty said. She was sitting on a chair with her feet up on the desk between us. "Your ivysaur is much better, only needs two days of rest and sunshine, thank Arceus, grass types and the sun, am I right?"

I nodded.

"Also - here, yours." She lazily threw a small object at me which I caught in the air. I looked at the Cascade Badge in my hand.

 _Six left._

"As per your earlier request, sixty percent of your reward has been transferred to a trainer Mia," Misty continued. "She the original trainer of that trick room bro?"

I nodded again.

"Yeesh talk about getting a mon for free. That much credits is nothing compared to the curve ball you threw at me today. Really, I'm impressed, didn't expect you to win at all," Misty kept talking. "Two badges in fifty-nine days as a trainer. You're really something."

"Which is why I'm going to make you the same offer Brock did. Stay here at my gym. Study and learn more kid. Because I can see you aiming high, but you're kind of a one trick ponyta, aren't you?" Misty asked nonchalantly.

I tilted my head. _What?_

"I mean you prepare, you prepare _hard,_ but that's pretty much it. Parafusion against Brock, trick room against me. OK, I admit, these are cool strategies and the way you execute them is unexpected and perfect, but you can only win so many matches without _power_ on your side, and maan, do you seriously lack power. What would happen today if your room calculations were off and it ended earlier? What would happen if your ivysaur hadn't thought of planting those seeds, and don't tauros shit me on that, I know you didn't order her to do it, she did it on her own," Misty explained. "So, like I said, same offer as Brock. Take the badge, but stay at my gym."

I shook my head without thinking. Even if I did consider studying at a gym, it would not be at Misty's, Brock was much nicer and fairer when he made his offer.

"Suit yourself." Misty shrugged. "There's a back door at my gym if you want to avoid the media - you seem like the kind of guy that would do that. Ask Ethan at the desk, he'll show you the way."

She waved goodbye at me "See you around Pokemon Trainer Red."

))(())((

It took a week for Paul to recover, and even after that he still supported nasty burn marks that would be permanent according to doctors - I would love to test that claim with a certain fountain I knew of but didn't want to spend any more time wasted. Callidora was healed fully, she had no permanent damage, and now out of her ball, she was sitting next to me under the bridge Melanie used to call home.

Pikachu was on my other side. Him and Callidora still only tolerated each others' presence, and that was fine, as long as they knew when to act like a team. Last week's victory against Misty was only possible through teamwork, Paul with his trick room, Callidora with her poison, and Pikachu with his speed had all contributed in winning.

Now that I was done with this place, and wanted to move south to Saffron for my third badge, I felt like visiting this place one last time would be the right thing to do. After all, it was only thanks to Melanie I met Callidora.

I was still thinking on her last words when both Pikachu and Callidora began growling at my sides. I stood on my feet, what was happening? Both of them were facing the canal water. I braced myself, had the "rockets" found me?

No, but what came was more shocking. In fact, it was impossible.

A pokemon was walking on water, one I saw only in children's story books. It traveled on four legs, and was blue with white diamond shaped patterns on. A violet mane and two white tails came from its back. It looked at me with cold, calculating eyes, then carried on north.

My heart was thumping loud, my mouth was dry. I knew what I just saw and almost wished I hadn't. That was something that wasn't supposed to exist, it couldn't.

But the very panicked reactions of both Callidora and Pikachu proved it was true.

I had just seen one of the legendary beasts.

I had just seen Suicune, the aurora pokemon.

My brain flashed in realization.

 _The aurora is what made Melanie, Melanie._

I made my mind too quick.

"We're following it."

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hope you all remember last chapter when I described how Roulette could use so many attacks. Also, the girl with the slowbro from two chapters ago, bet you didn't expect that to make a comeback, did you?**

 **Paul the slowbro is a reference to my favorite poketuber. Let's hope he doesn't sue me.**

 **Trick room is an awesome strategy. In the games it reverses the speed order while keeping the priority attack order. In here, I changed it a bit, but kept the main idea the same.**

 **Trivia for clever readers:**

 **Some might have noticed the nicknames trainers give to their pokemon follow a certain pattern. Samuel Oak is a normal type trainer and names all his pokemon after Ancient Greek myths and deities: Ares, Hermes, Dolos, and Talos are the ones you've seen. Brock a rock trainer, uses a two-word naming system: Diamondback, Shatterstone, Graniteslice. Misty a water type trainer gives hints to her pokemon's abilities in their names: Roulette - a mixture of multiple attacks, like real life roulette, you don't know what's coming, Rainy - her blastoise is a swift swimmer, hence the name, and Sponger - the quagsire is a water absorbing mon, like a sponge. The reason why I wrote it so that these trainers use patterns is to underline them being mono core trainers. Red and Blue for example, don't follow any rules when naming, Pikachu, Callidora, Paul, and Hope, Invictus, Partner, Sky, all random names, because they use mixed cores. Keep an eye out for further pokemon nicknames!**

 **Next update: 29th of January. Take care y'all!**


	11. Blue's Journal: The Marksman

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

BLUE'S JOURNAL

The Marksman:

"We have considered your request Trainer Blue," Elder Li began. "And it saddens me deeply to inform you, we have decided otherwise."

"Please do not take it personally," Elder Chow continued. "But given the nature of your pokemon..."

"We have searched his soul," Elder Jin finished. "And have found nothing but violence there. Our methods are not for such."

And all three of them stroked their overgrown white beards at the same time.

Meanwhile, all I could think was _don't look at it, don't look at it, don't look at it..._

The _it_ in mention was a certain flying oversized bug pokemon behind Elder Jin, master of the ancient style of quiver dancing, one of the three great pokemon martial arts. The other two masters were at Elder Jin's two sides; Elder Chow, sensei of swords dancing, was seated cross legged with his spiky sandslash lying in front of him, and Elder Li, the dragon dancer, with his dragonair coiled around.

I sat across them, and I did appreciate the effort they had gone through to make their visitors feel humbled by their greatness when confronting them. Both the dragonair and sandslash were impressive enough, with one of them being a third dan swords and the other a sixth dan dragon dancer, any guest would sheer at the power emitted from these beasts. And the icing to the cake was the sixth dan quiver dancer masquerain flying being Elder Jin. The aggressive patterns on its spread wings would intimidate even the bravest of creatures, men and pokemon alike.

Hence was my reason to avoid looking at it. No way was I going to show weakness in front of the elders of the Sprout Tower sages, who were known to be practitioners and perfectors of pokemon fighting styles for generations.

Two weeks had passed since I had left Red in Cerulean. Because all ports were booked and I did not trust shadowing enough, it took the entirety of the first week just to reach Violet City on the back of a rented farrow. Unfortunately, I wasn't the one flying the great bird due to being short of three badges, the minimum requirement for a flying license.

Shame really. Not to diss the flyer who brought me here, but I was sure I could make the journey in five days or less. Couldn't wait until Sky evolved and I had myself some badges so I could fly to my liking.

The other week passed trying to arrange this meeting, which had only been granted to me due to the name Oak. I had pulled on some impressive strings and called in some mighty favors to get to see the three elders of a reclusive cult, favors that were probably going to make gramps' face grimace when he heard about them.

And now after all the trouble I had gone through, these three were telling me that my heracross Invictus was not fit to be trained in the way of swords dance. Apparently, his nature was too _violent_ to be taught an art of war. Go figure.

Except I had already figured that part out. There was no way these peaceful monks were going to teach Vic their sacred war dance. Not to be shooting down my own pokemon, but he _was_ a somewhat recovering poison addicted killer, and the idea of teaching him to fight more in controlled, more effective even scared me. Nah, all of this asking the sprout sages to train Vic was a farce for my real reason here, so I wasn't actually disappointed with their answer.

But I wasn't going to let them know that. Especially when I could see they were getting more nervous by the minute, the fear of my name and their obvious discomfort at me being not affected by the masquerain was straining their so-called nerves of steel.

Heh, they shouldn't have tried power playing an Oak.

"Your answer is... disappointing," I started in a calm, low voice. "And I must confess my confusion in the somewhat paradoxical rules of your teachings. Do you not claim to train all pokemon the dancing arts in order to achieve strength? How is it you claim to accept all but ignore mine? Or is becoming one of your blind followers an unmentioned pre-required rule - must I give up my freedom and be a soldier for the knowledge I seek, the knowledge you keep only to yourselves?"

 _Good,_ I thought when I saw their faces red in anger. _Like playing the legs of a kricketune_.

"Your answer alone is enough of a reason for us rejecting you and your pokemon, and why, if not your name, we would not be having this meeting," spat Elder Chow. "So arrogant in youth, child, you do not even see the answer in the words of your own seviper tongue. Yes, we teach all to reach strength. But _only_ to reach. Never to _use_. Never. You disappoint Garrett Oak, I thought you as at least a capable trainer and respectable man with a somewhat wild pokemon, but now I see-"

"What brother Chow means is we must kindly, but insist upon you leaving our tower before more unmeant words are thrown," Elder Li cut Chow mid-sentence, glaring at him. Realizing he had lost his temper, Elder Chow's angry face was replaced with an embarrassed look.

"Oh no Elder Li, I think enough words have been thrown," I continued, preparing to get up on my feet. "As someone often referred to as mentally gifted, I remember them all. I think so far in these last five minutes I have been called arrogant and too young, a disappointment, seviper tongued, and the possible opposites of capable and respectable which was probably how Elder Chow would prefer ending his ranting with, if not interrupted."

I smirked at them as I stood. "I can only hope to remember all when I relay them to my grandfather. I did mention I was his only grandson, his only living heir since his son, my father died, did I? He likes spoiling me, the soft heart of an elderly man. I wonder how he'll act against those who insult me."

I knew it was a bastardly thing to say. From the looks the elders were giving, I knew they also knew it was a bastardly thing to say, and even their pokemon seemed to know it was a bastardly thing to say. The dragonair gave me long hiss.

But here was the thing about bastardly things. They tended to work out very well.

"... Much apologies for our brother's temper, Trainer Blue." Elder Jin chose his words carefully now. "But though they could have been presented with less emotion, even you, or I expect even your grandfather, cannot deny that they were true, albeit harsh. I am sorry if you were expecting otherwise Trainer Blue, but even in the face of your... family's influence, we must still decline in teaching you and your pokemon the way."

A minute's silence passed before I bowed my head. "I can respect that," I said and the tension in the room seemed to be removed, Elder Chow even let out a relieved sigh. "But if I am to leave this tower empty handed, might I ask from you three, the leaders of your brotherhood, a small favor?"

"Perhaps we should first ask your wish before granting it," Elder Li cautiously replied.

"It is not much," I said. "But I have learned that the family friend of a friend of mine has joined your brotherhood, a sailor in fact, one who has crossed the seas between Indigo and Hoenn."

"You speak of Brother Ernest," Elder Jin said, surprised. "What of him Trainer Blue?"

"Yes, yes, Captain Ernest. My friend, you see, grew up with stories of the sea and the adventures of sea men. The stories were captivating, filled with romance and battles against great sea beasts, and even left an impression on me as a child whenever I would visit his home. These tales were all told by Captain James Ernest, and having met my friend recently and heard that his beloved uncle Ernest had retreated to the Sprout Brotherhood, seeing it was my destination, well, it felt almost a shame not to ask meeting him. But the sage at your door has declined my simple request, citing that _outsiders_ were not allowed to speak with their members. I was simply wondering, if you could..." Everything I just said was complete tauros shit, total lies. But the smiles the elders had on their face told me I convinced them.

Elder Chow rang a bell and a cleanly shaven young man in a robe appeared out of nowhere, startling me. "Brother Nico, would you do the honors of escorting Trainer Blue here to Brother Ernest. They shall have an audience together," he addressed the boy.

"A private audience," I muttered and everyone nodded. _The power of the human psyche,_ I thought. _Ask for one great thing and make them feel bad for refusing it, only to let them grant you something smaller. Sometimes it's hard not to agree with Red, us humans are predictable and boring._

After having said the necessary farewells, I followed Sage Nico into a small chamber where he told me to wait for a moment and that he would bring Brother Ernest. I didn't have to wait long, a minute later a middle-aged man supporting a rough beard and round belly entered.

I didn't wait for him to prepare himself. "Captain James Ernest of the S.S. Jane, I am here to ask you about your last voyage from Hoenn's Slateport City to Indigo's Vermilion." The way his eyes widened told me I had found the right guy. He abruptly turned around to exit, but I wasn't finished yet. "You can do that Captain Ernest, but you must know I am a man of influence. I have even convinced your elders in granting me permission to speak with you and speak I will. Exit that door, and..." I didn't need to end my threat, grumbling, he came back and sat down.

"Knew this day would come," he muttered, eyeing me carefully at the same time. "Didn't expect it to come from a youngling though."

"If it reassures you, I am neither from the league nor a journalist, just a trainer with questions about what exactly happened," I said. "Now, I want to read you something from three years ago. Something I wouldn't believe true, but seeing as you are here, an early retired captain far away from sea, I think there's more to it than it seems."

Trying to hide the excitement I was feeling, I took out my dex in trembling hands and began reading the short piece of news dating a few years past. " _A somewhat extraordinary mystery occurs on the decks of the S.S. Jane, a ship that regularly transports goods between Hoenn and Indigo. During the forty-three-day journey, shipmates awakened to the corpse of one dead wild pokemon lying on the deck each day. The victim pokemon were mostly wingull, but every now and then, more dangerous pokemon would appear, the likes of sharpedo, tentacruel, and once even a gyarados, one sailor quotes. 'Except these guys weren't exactly on the deck, can you imagine the body of a gyarados on your ship, you don't want that,' our source claims. 'No, they were, there's no easy way to say it, mutilated. The one gyarados' head was severed, that's what we found, and the others, them tentacruel had no tentacles and the sharpedo's eyes were gouged out. Luckily, we didn't see their bodies a lot, mostly wingull were dead.' The one thing all deaths had in common was that the pokemon were somehow pierced by some sharp object, but no weapon of such kind could be found._ "

Finished, I looked at Captain Ernest. "Anything to add?"

"It's true," was all he said, crossing his arms.

"No offense, but it doesn't seem that traumatizing enough for you to retire to a monastery," I tested him. "I mean, I know you sailor types, you were probably glad someone was cleaning out gyarados and stuff."

" _Someone?_ " James Ernest looked at me incredibly. "If you think a person did that you don't deserve to be called a trainer son."

"Fine, a pokemon wielded by a trainer then, but these attacks obviously have human intelligence behind the-"

"Do not underestimate _them,_ " the sailor whispered. He raised his head, and looked at me directly and there was fear in his eyes. "The _wild_. That's what we call it. A container of everything dangerous and unknown, all beasts that threaten men. And you know what kid, this kind of thing, this only comes from something even the wild rejects."

"What do you mean?" I asked captured by his words.

A brief pause occurred before Captain Ernest continued. "Every sea man knows, the big blue is the most dangerous place on earth. You see, on land you build walls to protect yourself from the wild. The skies are also relatively safe, attacks from even the truly dangerous predators are rare, and since men cannot live in the skies, the two species tend to their own."

His mind seemed to be elsewhere as he went on. "But the sea, she has always been mankind's greatest challenge. For some idiotic reason, we always try conquering her, and always fail. And admittedly, that's her lure, aye, that's her charm. We build rafts, she throws great waves and giant tentacruel. We build boats, only to meet wild winds and sharpedo. We build frigates, mighty storms and gyarados sink them. Aye, a truly hopeless struggle, yet it is a struggle of strength, between wild and men, with the most capricious of mistresses as prize. It is a struggle I can understand."

He pointed my dex with his index finger. "This thing, this killer, is no part of our match. The wild, though a many headed beast it is, has its own rules, rules that every creature obeys. And this monster has decided against them."

"What?" I hoarsely asked, my throat dry from excitement.

"I keep thinking on those forty-three days," he said. "First day we found a dead wingull on deck. Them bird pokemon always follow us, they keep us company during our journey, flying freely above. I didn't think much of one dead gull, probably fell from the claws of some other predator. I personally threw it into the sea. But the second day we found another one. Third. Fourth. Went on for fourteen days. Then nothing. The next day, the sixteenth one, we found a tentacruel, its body slashed. By then the lads were getting superstitious, and I admit it was even hard for meself to keep faith. Seventeenth day also a miss. Next one a dead sharpedo. Then a week of only wingull. One day of nothing. Then tentacruel. Nothing. Tentacruel. Three other days of wingull."

"A pattern," I said. "For every wingull this thing doesn't hunt during the night, it replaces it with something higher on the food chain."

"Smart lad, aren't you," Captain Ernest confirmed. "The day we found the gyarados head, it had missed four days on a row."

"That's the second time you used that term. _Miss._ " I noticed. "Why?"

"Think kid, think. To us, a ship is a means of transportation. But to the wild, it's-"

"A bucket," I cut in. "A nest. A floating basket filled with people." My eyes widened in realization. "You're saying... I can't believe I'm saying this, but, you're saying something was playing _basketball_ with wingull. Every time it kills one, if the body lands in the ship, point. Every time it doesn't-"

"It punishes itself. By challenging larger things. Then throws them in the - what did you call it? The basket. My ship." He leaned forwards grasping his own arm. "This thing is a gamer. It is so strong, that it's gone beyond the rules of the wild. It makes its own rules, and is crazy enough to abide them. Now I can wrestle kingdra and even challenge Kyogre itself, but that's only because I know what to expect from them. This thing is an abomination kid, it's crazy, and no way am I setting sail again knowing it's out there. You call yourself a trainer kid, but I'd bet you've never seen or heard something like this before."

My brain flashed in memories of another too strong for his environment pokemon, one who had sought thrill in fighting against impossible odds and satisfying himself by injecting poison. Even at the cost of his own life, Invictus too had refused to bend his own self-made rules. It was hard not to see the similarities between my heracross and this new mystery pokemon.

Grinning, I slapped my hand to the table. "Thank you, Captain Ernest," I said. "You've been great help."

One of his eyebrows raised questionably. "That's it? You're not here to judge me, deem me a coward?"

"I am not in the position to judge someone Captain, I imagine the mental toll of finding the murder victims of a psychotic game every day on your deck being quite hard." I got up and offered him my hand. "I wish you find the peace you seek here."

Slowly, he shook my hand. "I have to ask son, you've sparked curiosity in my bones. Why did you dig up this old story?"

"Because I needed to confirm its truth," I answered. "Because I needed to confirm the beast's existence before I capture it." With that last remark I left the chamber, leaving a rather shocked looking Captain Ernest behind.

Sage Nico was waiting and he escorted me all the way outside of the sacred tower. He didn't return back in though after I stepped out. Instead, we walked together across the bridge over the river separating the tower from the rest of the city. When we finally reached the end, I turned towards him.

"Well?" I asked.

He reached into his robes, pulled out a small capsule, and gave it to me. "Here. As per our prearrangement, in here lies a copy of the original scroll of swords dance, and all its secrets."

As if I was ever going to stop pursuing these arts just because three old men had said no. I opened the lid and took out the pieces of paper, examining them. They seemed to be the real deal; the writings described every movement, every training regimen necessary to master swords dance, and also had helpful hand drawn pictures included. "Nice doing business with you," I said as I reached into my own pockets to withhold my end of the deal. "Here."

With trembling hands, Sage Nico took the single cigarette. "Thank Arceus and sweet Mew. Blessed be the beast and bird masters, and their emissaries." He lit the cigarette and breathed in deeply. "Ohhhh, I've missed this. Those bastards, forbidding this. _Bastards._ "

And that was how I acquired an instruction manual to one the greatest fighting techniques ever, kept hidden and monopolized by three elderly men and their devoted followers. Simply by bribing one brother, forced to quit his habit, with one single cigarette.

There was a lesson here that needed learning but I didn't really care as I walked the way back to my hotel room, thinking how easy it was to sway the righteous from their path. _This only proves more that the people need me as champion,_ was my final thought on the matter when I entered my room.

Hope, lying on the hotel bed comfortably, greeted me with a growl, and I scratched between her ears. "We got the confirmation we needed. And a little extra," I said. "Now baby, it's homework time."

The small table my room had was covered entirely in the numerous different sea charts I could print, mainly focusing on the seas between Hoenn, Kanto, and Johto. I took a bright red pin and nailed it near Vermilion City on one of the maps. "This is where the S.S. Jane ended its voyage," I explained to Hope, who jumped down the bed and up to the chair next to me. "So, the pokemon we're looking for was here a couple years back for sure. Now, listen to this. This is something else I found and it dates a year later."

I began reading aloud from my dex. " _Cherrygrove City surprised by injured mantine! A mass colony of mantine hit the shores of the city of fragrant flowers, all of them alive, yet their wings are punched with large holes, crippling the pokemon's ability to fly. Rangers have no answer for what kind of wild pokemon could be responsible for such mutilation._ _Click_ _for photos._ "

"There are four things to take note of here," I continued. "One, despite attacked, all the pokemon were left alive, only crippled. No ordinary wild pokemon does that. Two, mantine are dual flying water pokemon, like wingull. Coincidence? I think not. Three, again, the holes. Both Captain Ernest and the dex report mention the various bodies of the dead pokemon on the S.S. Jane were killed due to being pierced by something. And here we read again about pokemon with holes on their bodies. And finally, four. Another pattern. The photos show that the mantine with remoraid attached to them have two large holes in their wings, while those with no fish have only one hole."

I scratched my nose, thinking. "So another game? Injure the mantine with remoraid twice, those without remoraid once? What are the stakes these times to failure? There's not enough information. But given the similarities between the S.S. Jane case and the Cherrygrove City one, I think it's safe to assume after Vermilion waters, this was where our suspect headed. Or swam. Since at this point, it's pretty clear we're dealing with a water type."

I put this time a blue pin near Cherrygrove City. "So, where did it swim after here? Listen to this, this one's six months after the incident in Cherrygrove," I began newly. " _Small time fisherman family out on the shores of Olivine City lost to the wild. Huey Terell, a known corphish fisher, decided to take his wife, in-laws, daughter, and three boys out for a pleasant trip on the boat. An unexpected storm drifted their vessel too far out in the open, their boat got attacked by the wild and sank. The wife, daughter, and mother-in-law all survived the accident and were found passed out on the sandy beaches of Olivine, having no idea how they had gotten there. The rest of the family was later found by rangers, all dead._ "

"Now I know this doesn't look much," I said. "But hear me out: A few days ago, I called the coroner who had examined the bodies. He remembered the case, mainly because he had found it odd that all the victims' bodies had injuries as if _pierced_ by a giant spear. According to him, there was no evidence of what weapon or pokemon caused this."

I pinned a blue pin on Olivine City. "I admit it's a thin thread, but the two main clues our culprit leaves behind are present: Hole shaped wounds and a pattern. This time the game was to kill the male members, and rescue, maybe save, the females? It obviously pulled all of the women in the family back to shore, even when there was a storm raging."

Sighing, I stood up, stretching my legs before continuing. "Last one. This is four months after Olivine and about a year back from today. Check it out: _Randall Parker, a professional underwater photographer barely made it out alive from his last dive near the coasts of Cianwood City, but had the chance to record something extraordinary! During his dive, Randall says he ran into the largest shoal of carvanha he had ever seen and was sure the group of viciously dangerous pokemon would tear him apart. He then noticed the savage pokemon being otherwise occupied. 'I don't know how to describe it in words - watch the video I took,' Randall says. 'But it was like... I know my water pokemon okay? In this job you have to, so I noticed that the carvanha weren't feasting on me, because, well they were eating something, many things, else. An entire group of different water pokemon were marching, uhh, swimming right into the jaws of the carvanha group - as if something driving them into that specific location. What made me draw out my camera was that after my initial panic passed, I noticed only a certain species, only the huntail were being actively hunted - any other carvanha that tried to take a bite of the other pokemon, like the tentacool or gorebyss or goldeen, they, uhhh, died? I think? Or were stunned, I don't know, watch the video! I took a fourteen second clip, then hauled a**.'_ _Click_ _to watch Parker's video._ "

" _Driving_. That's a key word here," I explained. "We have point A in the sea, where a shoal of carvanha reside. No sane wild pokemon will willingly swim there. Then we have point B, where a large volume of mixed low level pokemon species live. Now seeing as the predators occupy point A and the prey point B, you would normally expect movement from A to B. But no, our witness says that the prey themselves are swimming _towards_ their predators, movement in the opposite direction. The question is: Why?"

Hope looked so intently at me as if she understood everything I was saying. Chuckling, I pat her head. "Because there was something else out there, something that scared the prey more than the carvanha. This thing was goading these pokemon to a slaughter, but not all of them, no. It singles out one species as food for the carvanha, and any carvanha that doesn't obey and asks to bite something else is - here, check the video: You see that carvanha aiming for some tasty horsea? Just before it can get a bite - lemme slow it down - baam, something hits it, unrecognizable but for the blur it leaves behind."

I rubbed my temple. "Once again a game, you see? This time, it's like allowing your kid to only eat a specific letter from the alphabet soup and then stabbing him when he doesn't obey. A twisted game, but you can see the challenge, can't you? Stopping one of the most dangerous predators in the sea from obeying their own nature, making them comply to not the wild's, but its own rules."

I pinned the final blue pin on Cianwood City. "To sum up," I said. "We have four incidents where some sort of play is afoot; first on the S.S. Jane, and then near the waters of Cherrygrove, Olivine, and Cianwood. We also need to take notice of the time. First case: three years ago, lasts every forty-three days from Hoenn to Vermilion in Kanto. Then a year later we have our second case that we know of in Cherrygrove. Add another six months, Olivine. Four months more, Cianwood. See what I'm hinting at here?"

I picked up one of the sea charts that showed the underwater currents surrounding Indigo. "It's following the Seafoam Islands current," I answered my own question. "A ring current, following a path from the islands to the coasts of Fuchsia, Vermilion, New Bark, Cherrygrove, the south end of Johto, Olivine, Cianwood then back through the ocean to the islands. It took a year for our pokemon to reach Cherrygrove from Vermilion, six months to Olivine, and then four to Cianwood. That means this pokemon is not a fast swimmer, in fact it only follows the currents to help increase its movement speed! The only reason why it made the journey from Hoenn to Kanto in forty-three days was it somehow clung to the ship already sailing there."

"We're making real progress here," I muttered and Hope mewled her agreement. I pulled another map and grabbed my marker. "So, last year we know it was in Cianwood. That means right now, based on its movement speed and if it did not decide to jump another ship on the way, it has to be approximately somewhere between here." I drew a circle on my map. "Between the islands and Fuchsia, route K19."

"So let's prove it before we go in blind," I said as I took my dex in my hand. I typed in the official Rangers Association's website to check their monthly reports on that route. If there was any hint out there to this pokemon's location, I would find it.

But maybe tomorrow, today I had enough excitement with meeting the elders and whatnot. I would begin my research in the morning, fresh and rested.

Just then my pokedex pinged.

I checked it and read the title on my news feed. " _In another incredible match, Pokemon Trainer Red wins in battle against Cerulean Leader Misty! Is there truly no one who can stop this rookie trainer?_ "

"Hope." I gritted my teeth. "Get ready to shock me if I fall asleep, it's going to take all night reading these reports."

))(())((

"A canoe. A fricking canoe," I muttered the first time I laid eyes on the vessel the boat rental shop owner saw fit for me.

"You're seventeen. No boat license. No badge. No surf permission. The fuck you expected?" was the owner's response.

And even though twenty days had passed since I first ported to Fuchsia to rent a boat, I still hated that guy with as much passion as the day I met him.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't at my limits, I was mentally and physically strained. My days were spent training Invictus on the sandy beaches of Fuchsia in swords dance, which he took a not so surprising liking to. I knew anything that could help him be a more efficient killer, he would do. He was also quite talented in it for a wild mon; according to the scrolls I had and the katas he was capable of performing now, he was half way finished in becoming a first dan swords dancer.

I still wasn't sure if it was wise to let an even stronger than before Invictus out in public areas, especially in this city where one in every ten trainer used poison types. Knowing full well Invictus would jump at any given chance to forcibly pump his blood venom, I always picked the quiet and remote spots on shore so we could train in peace. Still, there was this one time when he caught the scent of a passing trainer's vileplume, and Hope had to send at least twenty thunderbolts at him before he fell down paralyzed. If we could leave this town without Invictus committing murder, I would count myself extremely lucky.

Hope's own training was also going well. Aside from the special agility exercises I made her do, she now also had to go physical against Partner, my raticate. Partner was a good match for her; as Red's Pikachu had kindly demonstrated during the Nugget Tournament, Hope was weak against direct confrontations, and going up against an equally sized raticate would help her eventually build her strength to overcome this weakness. Of course, she would never be a physical match against anything larger, but my hopes were that with this training she wouldn't be as easily defeated by something her level like last time.

My days were passed with training, but my nights? Ohhhhh boy, my nights. Every night, on my small canoe, I would paddle myself further and further out on sea route K19. Every night, using the super rod that had cost me a fortune, I set baits. Every night, I would catch almost every water pokemon in existence except the one I was actually looking for. I spent every single night out on a small, crampy canoe, not even being able to bring out my pokemon because there was no room for them, and with only a single, dim flashlight preventing total darkness. Every night ended in disappointment, and that made the following day's training harder on me.

For the last twenty days, I slept only every three nights, and even then only two hours at most. To say nothing short, I was a mess. I didn't know how long I could continue like this, checking the entire water volume on this route for a single pokemon was no task any man could accomplish on his own. And despite the impossibility of the task, here I was tonight, again, out there alone on my rented canoe that was costing me more and more each passing day.

 _You're doing this all to prove you're not just a man. You're a champion._

 _That only comforted me the first twenty nights you said it inner voice. Shut the fuck up._

 _..._

 _... I'm sorry, okay. I know you mean well. It's just... ugh. I'm tired, I haven't showered in days, my feet hurt, my arms hurt, and this is only the night, the next day I still have to worry if Vic will eat someone, so fuuuuck._

 _Hey, I got an idea. You know what would help? Shutting that radio app on your dex._

 _What? No way! It's the only thing that keeps me up at night, I don't wanna fall asleep and get eaten by a wild sea mon. My death will not be on this canoe!_

 _I get you, but I think that's what making you cranky. It also gives you blood pressure._

 _..._

 _Just saying._

My inner voice was once again actually right, like always, but I was too stubborn to listen. But I also spoke the truth, the radio was actually the only thing that helped distracted me from my need of sleep. That being said, it brought an extra problem with.

It made me fucking furious.

Because these days it seemed like anything, anyone on any show wanted to speak about, was Red. Who was he, what were his goals, where did his scars come from, these were all the questions that were on people's lips. I understood them, not every day a trainer as young as Red came along and won two badges in the first sixty days of his career and defeated a leader's ace in each of them.

But understanding them did not make me less angry.

Granted, I was currently not in a sound state of mind, shivering from cold, hungry, sleepless, arguing with my fictional inner voice, and-

Wait. Why was I cold? I was south of Fuchsia, even out on sea, the weather was supposed to be warm.

And just like that, the twenty days of exhaustion were wiped clean.

 _I gotcha you son of a bitch._

More excited and filled with hope for the first time, I shut my flashlight and took out my dex, leaving myself in dark except for the small piece of light emitted by my pokedex. Quietly rowing and always checking the pokedex's temperature function, I paddled in circles until I was sure I was at the lowest point my dex could register. Then I began setting up my bait; the body of a Kalos imported clauncher, a meal that was foreign and exquisitely delicious to the wild pokemon here. A true feast for the alpha predator.

And I was aiming for the alpha predator.

I cast my line and began to wait.

One minute passed. Nothing.

Five minutes. Nope.

"Come on you son of a bitch. I thought you liked playing games. Come on," I whispered to myself.

And after seven minutes and fifty-seven seconds, the line tugged.

With careful movements, I leaned back to the deck and planted my feet firm against the yoke. I took the super rod in both hands, its line running over my shoulder behind me.

The line tugged again. I let the spinning reel run, if this pokemon was half as smart as I suspected, right now it was only testing the line, I didn't want to alert the beast by beginning reeling it too early.

 _Not that I am aiming to reel it in at all._

As soon as I had that thought, the line felt loose. Any other pokemon, and I would suspect it got away. Not this one though. This one, well, the reason why the line went loose was not because it had escaped.

It was because it was on its way up to come meet me.

"I've spent an entire month on only trying to find you, to capture you, did you know that?" I muttered to myself. "One interview. Four cases. Enough for me to identify you."

I could feel the cold now more thoroughly. I grinned. "Almost there now, aren't you? I get it, it takes time to come all the way up. You are a sea bed pokemon after all. Slow swimmer, following underwater currents, that's right, you're too heavy to float. Deep deep down, that's where you live."

Even in the dark, I could actually see my breath, so cold was the temperature now. "It doesn't mean you don't like the surface though, does it? No, you love the surface. That's where most of the victims for your fun games live, don't they?"

I risked gently leaning over and looking down. I saw small amounts of bubbles rising. "And I bet I can guess your favorite game. It involves shooting, am I right? You shoot small spears from where you stand, that's how you hit the flying water pokemon, that's what leaves holes on the bodies. You shoot with incredible accuracy, pace, and speed, rapidly and in succession, enough to even kill a gyarados from afar."

"But wait, ah ha, that can't be it, I left no evidence behind? How do you know what I shoot?" I mimicked the imaginary voice of the pokemon. "That's what you're saying, right? You smug bastard. Here's my answer. Of course no ranger, no sailor could identify you, because what you shoot, it _melts._ "

Was, was the water getting darker? Any time now. "Icicle spears. That's your weapon. And that's how I knew you were still lurking around these parts, ranger reports showed an ignorably small amount of cold sensitive species migrating, but that was enough for me to determine one single ice type was near where it shouldn't have been. You freeze the surrounding air or water and then project the spikes at a better rate than any member of your species. You are indeed a truly offensive monster, but I find it hard to believe that no other pokemon has avoided your attacks all this time. The sea is full of many Omega level threats, at least one of them must have gotten away from your sick games and attacked you."

"And even better, when you, the game master, lose, as punishment you willingly attack those stronger than you. Almost as if testing yourself. And after all this time, here you are, still alive." The water surface was in ripples now. "Which means you not only have extraordinary attacking prowess, you also have exceptional _defense_. Heh, I'd even say almost _impenetrable_ defense."

"And that leaves no clue to what you are." I turned on my flashlight just at the moment the pokemon emerged. A large shape, almost as large as the canoe itself, was covered in a jagged, blue-violet shell with pointy horns on. The shell cracked open, allowing me to see a second, smaller shell with one large spike protruding between. Finally, that shell too opened and I came face to face with cold, calculating eyes on a black pearl.

"Hello darling." I grinned. The cloyster snarled back. I could see my line dangling freely from its mouth, hook caught in. "I'm afraid you're not getting free of that." I pointed my rod. "This here is a super rod; the line is ariados silk, stronger than steel, the grip is coated in sliggoo oil to prevent slipping, and the rod itself is marawok skull bone, it will bend but never break."

There was no way it could understand me, but it was a smart pokemon, and I could see it knew it couldn't break from this with brute force. I suspected the meaning behind its eyes was something other than escaping.

No, this cloyster, this monster was thinking if I was worthy of a _game_.

"There's only one thing we can play," I offered my assistance, knowing full well it was falling on deaf ears. "I mean, you could just kill me right now with one icicle, but that's no fun and no way to treat the possibly only human who's ever caught you before, am I right? After all, it's only because you were bored by your own strength that you decided inventing stupid rules for stupid games. So let's fucking play you crazy bastard, LET'S PLAY!" I yelled the last part, stunning it for moment.

I glared at it and shook the rod in my hand. "Pull."

And judging from the grin its scary looking face had, I guessed it understood.

As it dived deep, I thought on what I knew on the general biology of cloyster. The space between the two shells had the ability to compress and project air through small pores, meaning they had a built in projectile weaponry system. That was how they threw their ice darts at speeds unmeasurable, and that was also how they swam underwater. The same system simply projected water out and created a thrust force.

Now granted, compared to other water pokemon, they weren't the fastest swimmers, they lacked muscle and were too heavy. But they were durable and effective in swimming, and did not tire easily.

My line straightened, then strained. I felt the rod being pulled, so I gritted my teeth, planted my feet, and pulled back twice as hard. Slowly, unable to do otherwise, my canoe began moving in the direction the cloyster was swimming.

And that was the game this time. A game of endurance. Who would give up first? If it was him, I would catch him. If it was me, well, he probably would kill me.

The canoe began picking up speed, and I noticed with worry that the cloyster was going against the underwater current, away and outwards from Fuchsia City, which was not what I had hoped. On one hand, he would tire sooner, which was to my benefit. On the other hand, judging by the effectiveness of its ice darts, this cloyster was a fucking beast born with a one in a million projection system, so who the hell knew when it would tire. If I hadn't already dropped my rod by then, when it stopped swimming, I would probably be on unknown waters, far away from shore to be saved, and without resources, likely to starve to death.

 _Heh, heads I win, tails you lose. I like the way this cloyster thinks,_ I thought.

And as if everything was not against me already, I also had to deal with the fact that I hadn't had a decent meal or night's sleep for the last twenty days. The exhaustion was killing me, and my hand already began to tremble on the grip. The rod itself was putting pressure on my shoulder, hurting it.

I closed my eyes. _I am not a man. I am a champion._

"Bring it on you son of a bitch," I screamed as my canoe flew on the water. "I am an Oak. I am Pokemon Trainer Blue, and I'm gonna old-man-and-the-sea you so fuck'n hard, you'll miss the days you were shooting gulls down from the sky, you psychotic fuuuuuuuuuck!"

And together, the cloyster and me, disappeared into the night.

))(())((

"-dehydrated, been missing for five day-"

 _The sound of rolling wheels._

"Take him to floor three, measure his bloo-"

"Look, look, he's getting consciou-"

 _Something soft carrying me._

"Son, can you hear me, son? What happened to him, rangers?"

"We only knew to search for him when his heracross attacked our base doc, kid left his pokemon behind. It trashed our base but we eventually got it and checked the owner, it came out as a Trainer Blu-"

 _Aw, so Vic does care._

"-hen next thing we know this jolteon comes in, growling and pulling the commander's sleeves and what do we know, it's also registered to a Trainer Blue. Command quickly decided the trainer was in trouble so after searchin-"

 _Bravo Hope baby, bravo._

 _Sound of elevator doors._

"-id he have anything on him?"

"Only a pokeball, nothing else."

"Okay we'll take it fro-"

 _No._

"You hear me son? You're going to make it."

 _Not only a pokeball._

"You're going to make it!"

 _His name is Argo._

))(())((

"When can I see them?"

"Son, you need to recover, it's only been three days and-"

"When can I see them?"

"... They're being held in the rangers' base. They tell me you can go and get them later, and that they're fine. Also that you're lucky to have pokemon who care so much, they literally saved your life by alerting us in time."

"But for now..." The doctor pushed me back into the hospital bed. "You will rest."

Sighing, I laid back, playing with the pokeball in my hand that contained Argo. I literally remembered nothing about our match, but the outcome and evidence were clear. My hands were all blistered, cut, and bruised. There was a giant purple spot covering my entire right shoulder. I had lost too much weight and looked slightly better than a skeleton.

But I had _won_ \- I remembered the moment the dead beat tired pokemon had emerged after a nonstop five days of tugging my canoe against current. And I barely remembered realizing it a male, naming him, and tapping him with a pokeball.

I didn't remember the part of passing out after.

Deep in thought, I almost didn't realize that my pokedex was ringing.

The name read "Gramps".

 _Shit._

Groaning from pain, I answered him, trying to sound cheerful. "Heya gramps, what's up?"

"..."

"Uh, gramps?"

"Are you well Garrett?" His voice sounded tired, and even, aww, worried.

"Don't insult me gramps, I'm blood," I tried speaking joyfully. "It takes more than a cruise to take down an Oak."

"I see. Very well then, I won't _insult_ you more. But speaking of Oaks and cruises..." I could hear a chuckle in his voice, and honestly, him laughing scared me more than him worried.

"Do you mind explaining the bills in your name I am holding in my hand; multiple teleportation and flight transportations, broken glass in a bar fight, a twenty-day canoe rental, and one super rod? Also, while you are at it, mind explaining me why Elder Li of the Sprout Sages has been desperately trying to reach me, accusing you of stealing their most ancient secrets and demanding from me to do something about it?"

 _Shit. They found out. Fucking Nico must have spilled._ "You know these spiritual types gramps, always seeing stuff where there ain't none." I at least tried lying.

This time I definitely heard laughter on the other end. "Okay then Garrett, I accept that, but do please cleverly explain the ridiculous amount of money you've spent."

"Uhhhhh... You know I haven't battled much so I haven't earned much, and without that income, I was just using what I already have," I said. But I didn't get it honestly, why did gramps sound like he was having fun?

"No, you were just using what the _family_ had. Yes, you were allowed to withdraw money from that account in reasonable amounts, but what you've spent has far passed that. So, I'm cutting you off."

 _What?_ "What? Gramps, come on I am going to pay it all back!" I said, shocked.

"And when you do, I'll add your name back. For now, find some other method of income. Like your actual job. Battling. But I digress, we haven't even discussed your second punishment," he said with a playful tone.

"Since you've shown so much consideration in using the Oak name lately," he continued. _Uh oh, he's talking about what I had to pull to meet the elders,_ I thought. "You should probably earn it. There's this cruise ship that sails from Vermilion, the S.S. Anne. They've sent me an invitation to join this year's party on board, alas, my old bones are too weak for travel, and it would be simply rude if people of our status, our name ignored an invitation. And since I cannot attend, then-"

"Aw hell no gramps," I protested. "You know I'm normally for parties and mingling, but I got a plan here, I got a schedule. Why can't Daisy go?"

"Because your sister earns her own keep without boasting her family name."

That shut me up. I groaned.

"The ship sails in eight days Garett. Don't be late."

I hung up the phone. I had only one thought in mind.

 _Frickn' Oaks._

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry for updating this six days later than promised. Stuff happened, and the story uploading bug fanfiction recently had didn't help.**

 **About this chapter:**

 **I suggest you open a map of Kanto and Johto on another tab while reading. If you check out how the cities are laid, the sea current thing and Sherlock Blue's detective skills will make more sense.**

 **Elder Li, Chow, and Jin are all actually sages in the tower from the games. I made them elderly pokemon kung fu masters.**

 **In the games, swords, dragon, and quiver dance are moves that increase a pokemon's stats twice, which I have always found overpowered as fuck (Anyone who claims otherwise has never faced a dd gyarados, sd scizor, or qd volcorana). Instead of one turn moves, I made them here special martial arts that needed years of training to master - which realistically makes more sense than suddenly getting buff.**

 **In the Yellow games, Blue wields a cloyster if he has a jolteon. This does not mean all his pokemon will be from that team! Wait, I already made that point clear when I made him have a heracross from the fire red game. My bad.**

 **And for those of you wondering if Blue threw out all the core preparations he made from his introduction, don't worry, read on! He has a plan (That's sorta his thing). But you are free to guess how he'll build a core from here, so far he has a jolteon, heracross, and cloyster in his main team, three left!**

 **Next chapter: Delayed due to me screwing up this week, so let's say about the 12th of February, might take a day more.**


	12. Chapter 9: Death of a Trainer

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER NINE

Death of a Trainer:

The tale of the legendary beasts of Brass Tower predated the merging with Johto, even the unification of Kanto. It was one of those bedtime stories that taught you in life sometimes second chances were given, and they should be used wisely. A popular fairy tale with a morale ending set to inspire children based on ancient local legends, it was a true classic.

However, the story had been watered down for children, the original tale was somewhat grimmer. In the earlier days, way before Arceusm had spread worldwide, during the times when the cities were independent and separated, when the Ceruleanians worshiped the rivers and the Pewterians the mountains, unlike Kanto, Johto was known to have a somewhat central and common religion accepted by all her settlements, and today's Ecruteak City used to be a holy capital where pilgrims would journey to pray, ask, and worship. The main attraction point of Ecruteak was of course Tin Tower, a tall tower erected in honor of their god, the guardian of the skies, the rainbow pokemon Ho-Oh. The priests occupying Bell Tower would preach from their high balconies to their crowd of followers, speaking of doing good and fighting evil, accepting truth and denouncing lies, and never forgetting to give thanks to the all mighty Ho-Oh. Like all religions, they _mostly_ gave good advice, in betterment for the community.

Like all religions, it was exploitable as hell.

Overtime, as the story went, the priests grew greedy and confident in their power, ignoring their own textbooks. At first, an entrance fee to the city for those who wished pilgrimage was introduced, a rise in taxes for those who had already made bed there followed next. Soon the priests couldn't be bothered to give sermon multiple times a day, and instead limited themselves to once a month, making worshipers wait and hang on their words. The context of their readings began changing subtly, and the always open doors to Tin Tower were shut down, forcing any who wished entrance to pay massive amounts of riches. The religious leaders grew fat, ignorant, and lazy; but their worst act of defiance was to come yet.

Ecruteak was a common resting spot for spice traders from Fuchsia, Kanto. These traders, armed to the teeth and protected by trainers, would face all the perils of the wild to reach Olivine City in Johto on foot - one had to remember these were the old days where cities were independent kingdoms, and each asked separate taxes for safe passage, and sea travel to avoid payment was risky due to the pirates of Vermilion ruling the open waters. However, the increase of taxes in Ecruteak was the last straw for the Fuchsians, simply put, it was no longer worth the expenses to trade spice for Olivine metal and steel. They began seeking alternating routes, and the nine-hundred-ninety-nine priests of Ecruteak rubbed their greasy hands in worry, for they did not wish to lose this annual income. Then one of them had a solution, which all of them approved.

They decided to erect a second tower, not in honor of Ho-Oh, but in honor of the Fuchsians' own god, Lugia - an entire opposite to Ho-Oh, a sea god that had power over the tides and shores. Their idea was, by offering them both a safe resting spot and religious sanctuary, the Fuchsians could be drawn back. Their plan worked, the traders were delighted by this Brass Tower built for them, and even if most Johtons grumbled, naming this heresy, no one was mad enough to oppose the priests. The problem was, the Fuchsians only passed through the city once a year for about a month, the remaining eleven months this new, shiny, comfortable tower sat empty. So, the priests, fed up with their own old and squeaky tower, had another brilliant idea: Why not move in to this new, better one?

And as far as legends told, that was the last straw. As soon as all nine-hundred-ninety-nine priests moved, they were mysteriously locked in during one particularly stormy night, and lightning hit the top of their tower - a gift from their guardian of the skies. No one could escape, the tower burned from top to bottom, and the city residents heard never ending screams of anguish all night. By morning, a pleasant breeze had swept up the ashes, and rain had calmed the last smoking embers.

But in all its anger, "god" had made a mistake. Not all lives taken that night were those of guilty, three innocent souls were perished as well; a vaporeon, jolteon, and flareon, companions left by the travelling Fuchsian traders to be picked up on their return journey, these three met their untimely end unjustly as well. And maybe because of the jealousy it felt towards its counterpart Lugia's three emissary birds, maybe because of the coincidental similarity these three types had to the natural disasters that had brought their end, or maybe simply because of guilt and pity, these eeveelutions were granted an afterlife as something more than what they used to be; they were reborn as Suicune, embodiment of the rains and winds, Raikou, representing the speed of lightning, and Entei, the roaring fire of earth. The three became known as Johto's legendary beasts, a trio of pokemon opposed to Kanto's and Fuchsia's legendary birds, and had never been seen since then, supposedly emerging only to punish mankind's sins on occasion.

I personally never believed in any of these stories, but that did not make me a skeptical special beatifly, the point was _nobody_ believed these tales. That was why they remained as stories. True, there were some historically accurate elements to them, like the priests building a second tower and it burning down. And I supposed the culprit could have been some form of pokemon or another, more likely a thyphlosion or camerupt than some god.

But the existence of the likes of Ho-Oh, Lugia, Entei, Raikou? All of that used to be nonsense to me, and even if we were to hypothetically accept that pokemon with beyond omega level power like them could exist, I was sure they had better things to do than involve themselves in human lives and resurrect dead pets. It was one thing to theorize a common ancestor and come to the logical conclusion of the existence of an unseen pokemon like Mew based on the few same genetic traits all pokemon shared, and something completely other to believe in a mon like Zapdos because somewhere, someone, many millennia ago had seen a shadow of it from a distance and had no proof to back it up.

Key note in my rambling: _used to_.

Because after I stepped out of Melanie's old hideout, the pokemon unmistakably similar to the drawings in my childhood books was still there at a small distance away from me, miraculously standing on the canal waters of Cerulean without sinking. It had an impatient expression on its face, and it urged me forwards with a giant paw.

For once in my life I was actually speechless not by choice. I glanced down my right at Pikachu, who was vehemently shaking his head sideways. Then down my left, and saw Callidora also saying no by discreetly trying to bind my legs with vines. Seeing my look, she sheepishly retracted them, but still shook her head.

 _Well if both my pokemon are disapproving this,_ I thought. _It makes sense to listen, right?_

As if I ever did what made sense.

Gritting my teeth and ignoring my pokemon's protests, I took one assured step forward, then another. Seeing me move, Suicune - I still couldn't believe it was _Suicune_ \- turned its back and began walking, out from the backside streets where we were located and more towards the city center.

I followed it, and seeing me not likely to give up the chase, Pikachu gave a sigh and darted in front of me, positioning himself between me and the legend in preparation for any surprise attacks. Callidora too tried keeping up with us, but she was a heavier pokemon and her short legs didn't help much when it came to journeying. But her enthusiasm to stick to my decisions despite obviously disapproving of them was rewarding in itself for me, she was a pokemon I had only had for just longer than three weeks. Grateful, I recalled her back to her pokeball.

So began the journey of us three odd fellows; the legend, the starter, and the trainer. I had to admit I was curious where Suicune was leading me and how the citizens would react when we reached the more densely populated areas of the city, even though it was night, I was sure the main streets would be filled with people. Cerulean was known for its active night life after all.

Suicune turned one final corner, and we reached the city square where one of the main rivers separated the city in two and multiple small bridges lighted in many different colors allowed crossing. Everywhere I looked there were people, eating, chatting, drinking, taking full advantage of the attractions Cerulean had to offer. I half expected the screams to start about now from the shock of seeing a large, wild pokemon like Suicune, but to my surprise, nobody gave a second glance at the unbelievably limber canine pokemon, who was making his way through small crowds of people without making contact. At further inspection, I realized it wasn't that the people didn't look at the space Suicune occupied, it was that they did not _see_ it.

 _How-? Oh. Ohh. The mane,_ I realized. Suicune's fluid, gas-like mane had spread wide, and was covering his entire front body; by changing shape and color rapidly, it was creating multiple reflections, bending the many different colored night lamps of Cerulean and making the people see only what was _behind_ the pokemon, or what they would normally see in that place.

But then how did _I_ see it? My question was answered when Pikachu stopped walking in front of me and looked up questioningly. I didn't understand why he wasn't moving until I noticed he too didn't see Suicune, he had lost sight of our target despite it being only a small distance away. This meant I was currently the only one who saw Suicune.

And that's when I stopped and began questioning my decision. Almost expecting this, Suicune too stopped and sat on its bottom, turning its face back towards me with lips on the upper jaw curled open, flashing sharp teeth, almost smirking at me.

The truth was, up until this moment I hadn't realized it, but now, now I noticed that this beast was something beyond my, beyond any human's capability of understanding. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people, and not to mention a few pet pokemon also, were currently out on the street, and not one of them seemed to realize a wild legend was standing among them. If this were a zoroark whose temporary illusions worked on a psychic level, or a kecleon changing color, that I could understand, but this, this, the complex mathematics required to anticipate, block, reflect, and refract the line of sight of one human in an instant was already blowing my mind, I couldn't even move on to the mental capacity required to calculate the same equations on _thousands_ of people, on an _ongoing_ time scale, not to mention the analytical and instinctual approach necessary in adapting the misty mane to counter the superior senses of the pokemon present, and leaving an open angle for my own sense of sight, it, it...

 _This is impossible._

I was nailed still, my body crushed under multiple realizations at once. _This is not the first time this beast has done this,_ I thought. _For all I know, it could be prowling human streets every day, every night going unnoticed. No trainer's pokemon can detect its scent in a city, it's silent on its feet enough to avoid being heard, and agile to prevent contact. Sight, smell, hearing, touch, it has covered all fronts. It's definitely powerful enough that no psychic barrier can hold, and..._

Every analysis I was making, it was useless. I was trembling where I stood. This was simply _unfair,_ this changed everything. If a pokemon like this existed then, then...

 _What if there's more than one? What if all the legends are true?_

I, well, then, _nothing_ meant _anything_. All the progress humans had made was for naught, any chance we had against the wild was wiped clean. Our lives, all our lives were simply due to the mercy these beasts, these _legends_ , these _gods_ granted us; they could have wiped out our species, made us extinct anytime they had wanted to - and still could. There was no meaning to existence, free will and freedom were only _jokes._ All titles were empty, nothing could save us, protect us, not any leader, any four, not...

Not the champion.

Because the champion meant simply being the best. And right now in front of me stood the very proof that no one could ever be the best.

Not one single one of us. Not even all of us. Even if all of humanity were to unite, there was no way to win against a beast undetectable and unmatchabley powerful.

So what was the point of living?

I began uncontrollably giggling in my place and felt tears leaving streams on my cheeks. My mind was a mess, my heart was empty, my will was broken. Pikachu sensing me in distress came near, bit my ankles, even shocked me slightly, but there was nothing he could do to cure me.

I was a spectator of my own sanity simply taking leave.

 _The aurora is what made Melanie, Melanie._

I began laughing, and people began pointing fingers, but I didn't care, it all made sense now, why Melanie was the way she was, crazy, alone, and misunderstood, she clearly had met Suicune before, maybe even multiple times, and nobody could stay normal after that.

 _And I'm on my way joining her,_ I happily thought.

But surprisingly, my cure came from the disease itself.

Almost as if sorry, and sighing, Suicune approached me, and as usual no one bat an eyelid. I was still swaying back and forth in my place when it came near and touched me on my forehead with its muzzle.

 _A gift,_ I realized, and that was the last conscious thought I had. For everything was drained from me; my memories, feelings, ambition, hate, love, everything that made me _me_ , all gone.

There was only submission.

 _Follow._

 _Follow._

 _Follow._

And so I did, or I thought I did, the external world was cut from me. A blank screen, I felt and saw nothing, and existed only through the sense of motion, the sense that I was doing what was asked.

 _Follow._

And I did.

))(())((

Pain.

Incredible, internal, unimaginable _pain._

My blood was burning; it was eating me from the inside, building up in pressure, heating up my organs, expanding in volume, preparing to blow me up.

My blood was screaming, _go away, leave, nothing is worth this, abandon the mission._

My blood was calling me, instinctively I knew, just knew that whatever was torturing me, it was familiar, close, part of me.

And in my pain I was _free_ , free from that cursed Suicune who had meddled with my life, who was staring at me across river, on the other side of the shore between the two largest trees of the forest, who was ignoring every piece of thunder the left behind Pikachu was sending his way like they were nothing more than pieces of confetti, who had sent me _here_ to my doom by controlling my heart, body, and soul.

But blood, blood was stronger than all of them, blood was legacy, blood was life, blood was _destiny_.

And it was through blood my hidden opponent had awakened me from the legend's control, and it was through blood my opponent was inflicting upon me _pain_.

And as I laid on the solid ground, my mouth in foam and eyes rolled back in their whites, the last sight I saw was the disappointed look on that blasted Suicune's face, as if I had let it down somehow. Its twin white tails extended all the way across, and picked me up, pulling me back.

For some reason, the attack stopped, and the pain subsided.

For some reason, my mind registered only one piece of information out of this experience, one crucial point that held the most importance.

For some reason, now relatively safely next to Suicune and away from the danger with a passed out Pikachu curled next to me, the legend was once again kneeling and about to touch this time both of us on our foreheads.

For some reason I knew this would be the end, and I desperately held on to the one thing I had gained from this.

Suicune was _afraid_ to go where I had. It had sent me, for it had feared for _itself._

The legends I had been so quick to name god, there were horrors that even frightened _them_.

And if the gods felt fear, they could be no gods of mine.

 _No,_ I thought weakly as Suicune's head came closer and closer.

 _It means they are not gods. Not legends._

 _Only pokemon._

 _And I am a trainer._

 _I am a champion._

))(())((

 _The dark-haired prodigy lies on the roof of Pallet Training School. Beneath him, on the school's yard, is a party ongoing, this term's end of the year festival. Music is playing, couples are dancing, students are generally having a good time, but he, he is on the roof, gazing at the stars._

 _"Yo."_

 _The call doesn't surprise him, the last two years this has been a gathering spot for the two. He is curious though why the spiky haired boy would join him in solitude._

 _The newcomer carefully adjusts his position, and lies next to him. Together they stare down at the people partying._

 _"Last one," the blonde boy begins. "One more year. Then we're out of here Red."_

 _Red nods, he need not speak, but is surprised that his friend would bring up the obvious. And is more surprised that he is sitting next to him up here when there are opportunities for boys interested to_ _"_ _score_ _"_ _down there._

 _"Blue-" Red begins, but is interrupted._

 _"Yeah, I know, not like me." Blue grins. "But... Not today, okay? Today I have to pay respect for those I've barely even known."_

 _Red looks confused, so Blue explains in one word. "Anniversary. It's their death anniversary."_

 _Ah. Red looks uncomfortable, but Blue does not care, he has never been one to keep his thoughts bottled up for the sake of others. "Can't stay at the house, too dark - gramps has opened a new bottle for the occasion, and Daisy is wearing all black and lighting up candles. I think she actually likes the drama of mourning. So I thought of coming here to take my mind off them, but... well, I couldn't and it felt... wrong? Despite not remembering them, just couldn't enjoy myself today, I don't know." He shrugs._

 _A minute of silence passes. Then Blue continues. "Look, I gotta ask something. Personal. And I know you hate that, but you're the only other kid in town I can ask this. Soooo... Do you, you know, ever think of-"_

 _"No," Red sharply interrupts. He ignores Blue's shocked look and continues. "I never knew him. Mother never speaks of him. There are no records or photos of him. All I know is he was a trainer, and he's dead. That makes him weak."_

 _"That's... harsh to say," Blue comments, but Red isn't finished._

 _"You know your parents Blue, if not personally, through their deeds. You also have your grandfather and sister who love and remember them both enough to mourn, I bet they've shared memories of them with you. Me, however..." Red's eyes are stone cold. "I don't even know his name and there's no way of me knowing it - everything about him has been wiped clean on the net. I'm not dumb, I know the league only does that for high ranking officials, undercover cops, or... traitors to their country."_

 _"I'm sure your dad wasn't-" Blue begins but is interrupted._

 _"That's not the point. The point is, he failed whatever he was busy with, and died. That makes him weak." Red looks at his friend. "I am not weak Blue. I will not die before succeeding."_

Sunlight interrupted my dream, and I woke up to the sounds of pidgey and taillow chirping. I stretched long and hard, then stood up, trying to recognize where I was. There was a lazy river flowing in front of me, and a small cave entrance could be seen across. Behind me stretched a forest of trees, I was obviously somewhere off the routes.

Pikachu's snoring distracted me, and I looked down laughing at the funny shape he had slept the night in, he was holding his tail in his mouth and drooling. "Wake up you giant rat." I playfully nudged him with my foot, he gave a whimper but did not get up. I didn't blame him really, after visiting Melanie's place for the last time before we moved on, a festive mood had suddenly stricken us, and we had spent the night drinking to our victory against Misty from a weak ago. Well, I had, but Pikachu and Callidora had slurped down quite a number of those aguav berry juices.

Speaking of, where was Callidora? I didn't remember recalling her back to her ball, but I guessed I must have, seeing as her pokeball was buckled on my belt and all. Deciding she too would enjoy this fine morning, I released her. I was surprised to see her ecstatic and concerned, she was looking at Pikachu and me with unbelieving eyes, and her vines were extended long.

"Woah, slow down girl," I muttered, kneeling down and scratching her head. This calmed her a little, but something had excited her greatly and she was still panting and giving suspicious glances to her surroundings - especially at us. I wondered what riled her all up, hadn't we all spent a merry evening last night?

"Easy girl," I whispered. "Easy." My soft tone and the continuous scratching finally made her take breaths normally, and the vines retracted slowly. "Yeah? You okay now girl?" I kept asking, until she finally gave a grouchy growl. "Great. Now. How about helping me wake up Pikachu - by throwing him in the river?"

Needless to say, she was in for it - and soon I was rolling on the floor with laughter as I watched Pikachu slowly climb out the water, his fur soaked and ears dropped, shivering from the sudden chill and wetness he was dropped in. My laughter was cut short when I noticed another set of vines lifting me in the air.

"Calli, wait, waiit, just-" My speech was cut short as I swallowed water, and I pulled myself back up to find both my pokemon making gurgling sounds, laughing.

I rolled my eyes. "Great seeing you two get along. But," I started mischievously. "No point in only one of us staying dry, is there?"Callidora's eyes widened in worry, and soon Pikachu and I were double teaming her, wrestling our way to the river and trying to pull her in.

That was how we spent our morning, fooling around and enjoying ourselves, but I did want to start journeying again. As soon as I found out where exactly we were, we would be making our way to Saffron for our third badge. I tried checking my pokedex, but realized the screen kept flashing the words 'Error UP' and would not open. That brought my mood down, I didn't want to have to explain the professor I was having problems with the dex again.

I decided to follow the river downstream, sooner or later all water around these parts reached Cerulean City. I kept both my main two members out, and we walked together, though Callidora and Pikachu kept bickering - despite our morning fun, those two still did not like each other much. At one point the river curled north, and we had a small lunch break. I caught some remoraid for Pikachu and me, while Callidora dug out some tree roots and feasted on them. Afterwards we kept walking at a slow pace, and by the time we reached a small hill where the city lights of Cerulean could be seen, it was already night.

"That's where we started." I pointed my finger at a point upriver. "By following the river, we actually made the walk longer, we could have cut straight through the forest. But no harm done, there was no other way of determining our position." I checked the sky. "Since the stars tonight are bright and I can't see any clouds, how about we skip camping, and just power on and reach the city instead?" I offered. "We'll probably make it in three to four hours."

Pikachu growled his approval of my idea, but Callidora remained silent. Her eyes were concentrated on something in the dark, something up at the tree tops. She gave a silent, warning growl, and bent her fore legs, aiming her bud up.

"What's wrong girl?" I asked. _She's acting really strange toda-,_ before my thought was finished, Callidora launched a number of seeds at incredible speed, and suddenly her actions became clearer when her invisible target swooped down, easily avoiding all her bullet seeds.

The noctowl was large, and judging by its reaction time, definitely trained. It flew half a circle above us before diving, the sharp claws aimed directly at Callidora.

 _Damn it!_

I jumped on reaction, Callidora was a slow, stationary target for the night predator, and the claws would leave permanent damage if connected. I collapsed on my ivysaur and heard a protesting squeal, but I was determined to shield her from harm even at the cost of my own body. Though Pikachu showed it was not needed. I felt the air crack, then heard one painful hoot. A soft thump followed, then a final snap.

A bit embarrassed from my dramatic overreaction, I looked over my shoulder to see my quite proud of himself starter standing atop the carcass of the owl pokemon, his jaw was bloody from where he had bit the noctowl's neck after shocking it down. Feeling red in the face, I rolled over to my back on the soft grass and reached over with my arm to still keep in contact with Callidora.

"Good job noticing a trainer's pokemon." I blindly scratched her side. She gave a pleasant growl, but avoided eye contact, probably also feeling embarrassed at me trying an unnecessary rescue attempt. "But you suck at shooting, noctowl aren't even the fastest of flying species. We're going to have to train you in aiming better. We can't always rely on a trick room."

"As for you." I got up, giving Pikachu a half annoyed, half amused grin. "You can't just kill everything you know, that's a trainer's mon, now we have to find the guy and explain why his bird is dead."

Pikachu twitched his nose.

I rolled my eyes. "Doesn't matter if it deserved it. Just get a good sniff, let's track it back to its owner. Looks like we're going to have to camp tonight after all."

We cut through the trees and dwelt deeper into the forest, Pikachu in front leading us with his nose. My initial amusement was quickly being replaced by irritation, I didn't want to have to talk with a, judging by the way that noctowl was left by itself, obviously incapable trainer and inform him of his pokemon's death, but in this case, since it was my team responsible for the kill, trainer's etiquette demanded at least an explanation being given. Though I was halfway there to saying "screw it all" when a tree branch left a scratch on my right arm; now that we were walking under the shade of the trees, it was harder to see.

I was relieved when Pikachu came back from running point and grabbed my sleeves with his teeth, tugging me forwards. We were obviously near where the scent was strongest. To my confirmation, not much longer I saw lights at what seemed to be small clearing ahead, and I hastened my steps but suddenly tripped on something. Groaning in pain, I realized my mouth was stuffed with a thick vine and I couldn't let out a sound. Turning my head back, I saw what had tripped me was another set of vines, originating from Callidora's back.

Pikachu didn't like her hurting me. He jumped at action and bit the vines binding my legs, simultaneously sending a surge of electricity towards his teammate. To my surprise, Callidora didn't hit back, or even let out a slight whimper of pain as the bolts hit her mid-face, leaving small burn marks. Then I noticed her position, she had crouched extremely low, her legs and face were almost half buried into the soft dirt.

I pulled on Pikachu's nose sharply, signaling him to stop attacking. He looked at me in disbelief, but obeyed. Callidora, with a grateful expression, slowly began moving forwards. I followed her behind crawling, trying to make no sound. Pikachu stood still for a few seconds, and then he too followed example and lowered his ears and tail, but judging from his face, he saw no need for this erratic behavior.

And I agreed with him, except for the fact that today I was not myself and had made too many mistakes. Maybe because last night's alcohol still affected me; but not recognizing us being watched by a trained flying pokemon, not analyzing its flight pattern to build counter strategies and instead reacting in a silly manner, and not taking notice of the fact we were off routes, in the middle of the night, with a predatory pokemon separated from its mysterious trainer, were slip-ups I normally did not do. Furthermore, something about Pikachu also seemed wrong, his charge was less than usual, as if he had spent the entirety of last night battling when I knew that couldn't be true. Normally he should have had brought down a flying pokemon like that noctowl in a single blow without resorting to a second bite, and the attacks he had launched on Callidora should have left more of an effect.

Nevertheless, something was off with both my starter and me, and perhaps it was her many years of experience acting a guardian to Melanie on the streets, or for some other entirely different reason, Callidora was the only one acting sharp tonight. So if she felt like we should handle this approach carefully, I wasn't going to go against her instincts.

And as we quietly crawled near to the clearing, hiding from sight in the bushes and tree shades, my ivysaur's instincts proved indeed right.

Four men, three of them dressed in black and standing, and five pokemon were there; a glowing volbeat made the group visible, and the two marowak stood at both sides of the forcefully knelt down fourth person. A kingler, within whose pincers lied the final pokemon, a charmeleon, completed the group.

"We warned you Nolan," began one of the men in black. He was quite tall and wide, had blonde hair and an incredibly thick same color mustache. Upon closer inspection I noticed his black clothing was actually body armor. His tone was authoritative, making me guess he was the one in charge of this band.

"Look, Butch, look, just give me anothe- AAARGGHG!" the man kneeling, Nolan, screamed into the dead of the night when one of the marowak hit his right side with a thick bone club, effectively breaking his arm. The charmeleon growled in response, but the kingler squeezed its claw just enough to quiet it.

"Meew damnit, Butch," another of the standing men said. "Are you purposely making him scream that loud? We ain't that far off from the city gates."

"Relax Al," the third one answered. "Proxima is on watch. Nobody's coming here without her warning us."

"You hear Rex, Nolan old boy?" Butch leaned forward and I saw Nolan's face lit up in terror. "Nobody's coming to save you. So you better start explaining where our money at."

"I... I don't have any money, please, please, AAAAAARGH!" The second marowak hit Nolan's other side. I bit down on my tongue not to cry out with him, his cries and whimpers made the pain all too relatable. The charmeleon who I assumed at this point belonged to Nolan let out a wilder, more threatening roar.

"For Arceus' sake, shut that fucking thing up Al." Rex complained. Al clicked his tongue twice, and the kingler raised one meaty claw, and hit the charmeleon on the back of its head, knocking it down.

At my sides, both Callidora and Pikachu gave silent growls.

"Thanks," said Rex, then turned to Nolan. "Really? No money, you say, eh? Funny thing, I bet you have _some_ money though, don't you? About five thousand credits worth, maybe? Eh? Or maybe you prefer the term _a nugget's_ worth?"

And as Nolan stood quiet, it finally dawned upon me who he was. This was my opponent during Cerulean's Nugget Bridge Tournament, Trainer Nolan Tucker, the winner of the tournament, the trainer who had won the five thousand credits prize with the help of his starter, Dante the invincible charmeleon.

"No use in trying to skim Team Rocket, you fucking piece of river trash," Butch spoke in disgust. "We know everything going around these parts, and you my friend, you ain't the brightest bulb around, winning a publicly recognized match, going on news, all the while your useless mon was on our _product._ "

 _Team Rocket! The_ _"_ _rockets_ _"_ _Melanie warned me about! These guys are with Jessie and James..._

 _Wait... product?_

"Let's not make this any harder than it needs to be Nolan," Al gently said. The volbeat buzzed over his head as he continued. "Where's our money?"

"I, I _spent_ it all, please, please, _please_ , I'll pay you back, please, oh Arceus, please," begged Nolan desperately. His arms stood in uncomfortable angles, both of them clearly broken. One marowak slightly brushed against his right arm with its club, and Nolan's voice rose in fear. "I swear I don't have it, please, please, give me time, take Dante, take _Dante_ as compensation, leave me, please!"

My lips curled in disgust, and Butch heartily laughed. "Oh, we gonna take your worthless lizard alright, despite the fact he's nothing without ex. Maybe he'll make some good lab mon. But that still doesn't bring us close to the debt you owe us asshole."

Both marowak hit Nolan's knees, and the cry was earth shattering. His face was a mask of pain, completely covered in a mixed slobber of tears and drool. He now laid on the ground, trying to worm away in escape. All the while he kept begging mercy. "Butch, please, Butch..."

"This is a waste of time." Al sighed. He gave an order to the kingler. "Rip his fucking head apart Grim."

Grim the kingler began his species' known sideways walk towards Nolan, and apparently the giant slicing machine that was Grim's pincer provided the final push necessary in making him confess.

"My parents' house! I still have a room there in Cerulean, under the mattress one of the floor panels is loose, it's all there, the prize money, and the remaining ex! Please, please just take them, and Dante, and even my parents, but please, let me live, please..." Nolan was yelling, begging for mercy in the most demeaning way possible, but I could already tell his cries were falling on deaf ears.

"Much obliged Nolan," Butch replied pleasantly. "I appreciate you also offering us our _own_ product back, next to the money you already owe. And I must say it takes to be a real man's man to ask us to kill your pokemon and parents like that, just to spare yourself. Really, I respect you."

Al and Rex both laughed at Butch's sarcasm, and Butch continued. "But... Here's this teeny tiny thing Nolan. Our bossman can't forgive you cause, well, man you went public with a doped up mon. You know the rules, ex is only for underground tournaments, not for festivals where there are cameras and viewers. Can you imagine the league being notified of ex?"

Everything was starting to make sense to me, these Rockets, they were drug dealers, and with my experience against Nolan's charmeleon, their product, this ex, was definitely something too potent. I had suspected it; but Blue had outright said it, and he was right. It was impossible for a charmeleon to take that much of Pikachu's thunder without some chemical back up, Nolan had outright cheated during the tournament by feeding his pokemon ex. But he hadn't paid them back, and apparently the dealers also had clear rules about how their product was being used. I understood why, I had never heard of a drug like ex that bypassed control measures and had no visible aftereffect before, and if this was brought to light, the league would sure have an interest, something criminals could not afford.

And I could also guess how these Rockets punished those that strayed from the rules.

I closed my eyes as I heard a scream cut short by the sickening sound of the blow the marowak caused against Nolan's skull. The thumping sounds continued for a short while, and finally after a quiet "snip", all was silent.

I dared opened my eyes again. Nolan's face was unrecognizable, being hit over and over again, and his head had been severed from the body by Grim the kingler. I barely managed to hold my vomit in.

Butch lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply. "Those things'll kill you, you know," Al commented.

"Shut up." Butch took in another breath. "What's the orders on the body?"

"None given, left to us. Can't burn it in a clear night like this, it'll attract rangers, and the Ceruleanians will for sure find a body dropped in their rivers, so..." Rex pointed the ground. "Order your knuckles over there to dig a hole, I guess. Any other ideas?"

There were none, and soon the two marowak began clawing their way into the earth at Butch's orders. Having seen enough, and deeming it way too risky to intervene, I decided on slowly making a retreat, reaching out and touching my two pokemon softly.

"So... how's your brother doin?" asked Al.

"We don't have to small talk, you know." Rex said.

Butch didn't mind the question however. "Which one you askin?"

"Umm, all, I guess. How many were there again?"

"Four," Butch answered. "Duke's on the Anne mission, with, what's his name, the guy with the stupid goatee-"

"Kevin."

"Yeah, Kevin and him are on Anne, with the VP too. Good mission, Dukie's hoping for a promotion after. As for Ron and Ace-"

"Al," Rex interrupted. "When was Proxima supposed to return from patrol?"

"Half an hou- shit. It's been forty-five minutes." Al put two of his fingers in his mouth and blew a loud whistle. His kingler took a defensive position in front of him, while he took out a small machete. "If she doesn't return in two minutes after that order, we have to assume she's been made."

"Or your bird just got hungry for some rattata," Butch muttered, but his two marowak stopped digging and moved near him, and he loosened the lasso attached to his belt. Rex stood quiet but revealed a crossbow in his hands, and his volbeat began aiming its shine towards the trees, almost near where I was hidden.

 _Shit._

 _Shit. Shit. Shit._

Proxima was definitely the noctowl we had killed, and it had been placed there to deal with trespassers. Despite the unlikelihood of a random encounter off route during night, these rockets had remained professionals during their questioning and execution, never letting their guard down and taking security measures. And now they were too close to finding us.

 _Think damn it, think!_

I needed a strategy out of here. Both my pokemon stood stiff, trying to not make any movement and noise that would lead to our discovery, and eventual death.

 _Think!_

My brain was moving too slow, I swore to myself I would never drink again if we made it out of here alive. The volbeat pointed its light further from us, masking us again in the shadows.

 _If we run for it, they'll shoot us from behind... We have to fight, take out a few of them, then scram while they're surprised._ I forced myself to analyze the scene. _Threat number one: Butch. Large man with lasso, probably adept in pulling enemies close for his two marowak to finish up. Effective in close to mid-range. Number two: Al and the kingler. Like all sea bed pokemon, superb physical defense, but weak to elemental attacks, especially considering its body is mostly conductive. Pikachu should be able to handle it afar. Can't get close. Final threat: Rex. Long range weapon. Plus a volbeat to light the dark._

A plan was beginning to formulate itself in my mind. _The volbeat. We take it out quick and run away, making it harder for them to track us and impossible to shoot at in the dark. Then again, we won't be knowing where we're heading either, and-_

"Time's up," Butch said. "Move out. Rex, that way. Al, towards base. I'll check the river." He began walking directly my direction.

 _Now or never._

"Calli, the marowak!" I yelled as I suddenly emerged from my place, surprising Butch. I managed to dart past him, and saw Callidora's vines reach out to bind the two marowak. They would break free, but for now slowing them down was enough. "Pikachu!" I didn't need to finish the order, his battling instincts had caught on the plan. A blinding thunderbolt hit the stationary kingler, and the smell of fried insides filled the air. A second one was sent loose towards the firefly pokemon, when suddenly, incredibly, the bolt changed direction mid-air, and instead redirected itself towards one of the tangled up marowak. The lightning hit and dissipated against a thick club, thrown and stuck perpendicularly in the soft ground.

 _Damn it._ This was an incredible mistake on my part, I never took into account the special clubs marowak made from the bones of their dead parents. Lightning always followed the path of least resistance, and it was only due to the elemental powers electric pokemon possessed that they were allowed to direct that force in a path of choice. But when something grounded and much more conductive than even air, like the ancestral bones of a marowak or the horn of a rhydon, came into the picture, thunder would disobey its master and revert back to obeying the laws of physics.

Meaning, currently Pikachu's distant attacks were entirely useless. And with the volbeat still keeping the lights on us, we were sitting ducklet.

Rex took a shot at Callidora and hit her in the leg. In pain, her vines loosened up, and the two marowak were free to pin my starter down. I tried tackling Rex, but Butch threw his lasso and bound my legs, tripping me. Almost at the same time Al held his machete to my throat, and Rex moved closer to my ivysaur, aiming at her head.

"Fucker killed my Grim!" yelled Al, and I felt the pressure of his blade increase against my skin. "I'm going to kill you dead, you motherfuckin-"

"Stuff it Al!" barked Butch. "We're all professionals here." He turned to face me. "Who the fuck are you kid?"

The situation was entirely hopeless. The volbeat was up in the air, glowing and lighting the area. Butch stood in front of me, my legs were trapped in his lasso and behind me Al was pulling down my hair, revealing my throat. The two marowak held Pikachu in their claws, and even though my starter was thrashing around, he was no physical match for the two ground types. One bone club erected in the center of the clearing made sure Pikachu's electricity would be useless. And Callidora was taken hostage by the giant bolt pressed against her skull by Rex.

I stood quiet. I wasn't going to give these murderers the satisfaction, nor was I going to demean myself like their previous victim Nolan... _Wait! Nolan! Nolan's charme-_

Butch shrugged his shoulders at my silence. "Suit yourself." Next thing I knew, a giant fist made me count the stars. I tasted blood in my mouth, but the pain, the pain also cleared my head, as if the fog that had shrouded my mind all day was suddenly wiped clean. My body broken, but my mind revitalized, I once again looked up defiantly at Butch, while this time more carefully observing my surroundings.

"Let's start simple, kid. Who do you work for?"

I gritted my teeth as another hit came. Before my vision blackened, I noticed a few other details in the clearing I had missed, like how the charmeleon's flame on its tail was still burning, indicating him alive but passed out, and how close Al was to the half dug out hole by the marowak behind me.

"Are you alone?"

I spat the blood in my mouth, and braced myself. Butch raised his hand again, but then stopped, looking at me thoughtfully. "Al," he called out. Behind me Al grunted.

"You heard that shit storm in Mt. Moon? With Captain Jessie?" Butch asked curiously. "A lookout warning was issued, for a trainer with a pika-"

"Pikachu. A pikachu!" I could hear the excitement in Rex's voice. "You don't reckon?!"

"Man, we're so getting promoted tonight," muttered Al behind me.

"You bet your ass on it. Hello, Pokemon Trainer Red," Butch greeted me with a grin. "Also, goodbye. Al, cut him."

Having no other choice, I yelled with as much authority as I could, "Dante! The bug!"

My sudden outburst surprised our captures and delayed the inevitable for only a second, but it was enough.

One thing I had noticed about Nolan's charmeleon; it was a loyal pokemon. It had been loyal to Nolan during our match in Cerulean; where Nolan had drugged him, left him to take hits, gave him no orders, Dante had still come through and won for his trainer. Tonight, when Nolan was shamelessly offering his starter's life in place of his own, Dante was still defending him, roaring and growling at his enemies. And though I wasn't willing to bet my life on it, having no other choice in these circumstances, I asked myself: If a monster like Dante always obeyed his trainer despite the incompetence and abuse, what would he be willing to do for a trainer that would actually _care_ for him?

In my voice, I desperately tried to reflect on my _need_ for him, on how we were at the moment allies, how we could both fight against those that had killed his master. I knew he was a starter, meaning he was trained beforehand to recognize and understand limited human speech, just like Pikachu, but it was not my words I wished him to hear. It was my unsaid promise that together we would escape the trap we were in, and we would be free to live, but only if we worked together.

And incredibly enough, Dante the charmeleon not only heard my call, my plea, he answered it.

His eyes opened alive, he rose on his feet and roared. The flames were not as strong as I remembered, they did not have the intensity they had burned with during our match, but they were enough to roast the bug pokemon above us. Like the curtains on a window pulled, the bright, flashlight-like glow of the volbeat replaced itself with the dim, smoking embers of the ashes remaining as a light source.

In one second, surprised and distracted, Al's grip on my neck lessened, and I kicked back as hard as I could.

In one second, Rex' moment of hesitation to turn back and glimpse at his surroundings allowed Callidora to extend one vine to pull the bone club out of the ground and another to wrap Rex's ankle.

In one second, Butch acted on reaction, and loosened the lasso on my feet to bind the new threat's fire bursting jaw, as both Al and I fell down the hole, him landing first and me dropping on top, making an awful, awkward crunching sound come from his neck.

And at the end of that one second, Pikachu let thunder crack in the air. Lightning rushed, first through the bone club suspended in air by Callidora, then through the extended vine to her main body, and finally through the second vine to Rex.

In one second, it was over.

I pulled myself up from the hole I was in after grabbing the machete from Al's lifeless hand. The scene in front of me was disorientating, the only light remaining was the small fire on the charmeleon's tail, and it barely let me see Butch's lasso moved on to Dante's neck, with Butch reeling the rope in, leaving Dante breathless.

I didn't bother attacking a physically superior foe even with the blade in my hand. Instead, I jumped and yelled in a crazed frenzy, and cut the lasso in half. The pressure gone, Dante burst fire once again, directed towards Butch's direction, but he was a far too agile man to be caught off guard by a second stage evolution. He rolled to his side and disappeared in the dark, but the sudden flash Dante's flames provided made me see Pikachu trying to get away from the two marowak close to his tail, and Rex struggling to his feet - the lightning being conducted through Callidora's resilient grass type body, he hadn't taken any fatal injuries. I blindly threw my pokeball where I last saw my ivysaur, with her hit in the leg by a crossbow bolt and having suffered through Pikachu's electricity, I knew the battlefield was no good place for her right now. A click I heard confirmed my aim to be true, and left me free to reveal my trump card.

I dropped my last pokeball, and a familiar tingle in my brain greeted me, a psychic type had entered the field. _Paul,_ I tried thinking in images. _Stop them._

A pink glow surrounded my slowbro's eyes, and then everything quieted. Out of breath, I cried "Dante, light!" In an act of perhaps ritualistic importance, Dante set flame to the body of his former owner, building an almost campfire like atmosphere. The increase in light gave me the much needed precious seconds to glance at the field.

The two marowak were holding their heads, Paul's psychic attack had hit them hard, but I knew it wouldn't be soon before they got up, Paul's psychic powers weren't the best. Rex was already on his feet, aiming his crossbow, but Pikachu's sudden leap in front made him retreat back to the trees. I followed, but only to find and take back Callidora's pokeball.

There was no sign of Butch, and the two marowak were already on their feet again. The bad news was, my current roster could never take out these two ground types. Pikachu and Dante were both too frail to tank their hits, Paul was offensively near useless, and I wasn't going to go into a battle of strengths against two members of one of the toughest pokemon species at once.

But the good news was, marowak, like almost all ground types, were too fucking slow.

"Scram!" I yelled as I called Paul back, and Pikachu, Dante, and I ran in the opposite direction the two rockets had disappeared.

We kept running and running, I wasn't sure for how long, but the marowak were no longer in sight and we had left the clearing long behind us. Out of breath, I signaled Pikachu and Dante to stop, they both did. Tired as I was, I was in far better condition than those two. Dante had already been injured by the kingler, a nasty looking bump was growing on the back of his head, and Butch's lasso had left a ring-shaped mark on his neck visible in the dim fire of his tail. Pikachu was even worse, he had already started the day with less than usual charge, and the marowak drained the rest of his supply. Plus, he was walking funny, skipping on one of his short legs. I suspected one of the marowak had gotten a hit in.

Added to the fact that Callidora's injuries were even worse in her pokeball, I really didn't trust myself enough to go against these seasoned killers with only Paul in my pocket. "You smell anything?" I asked Pikachu. "Or hear?"

To my surprise, both Pikachu _and_ Dante shook their heads, apparently Dante was feeling like listening to me even outside crisis scenarios. Pikachu gave a jealous growl, and Dante hissed back, but I hushed them both, I wasn't in the mood to deal with this at the moment. First, we had to successfully leave this forest and reach the city where we would be relatively safe.

I cursed my luck again that my dex had chosen today to malfunction.

Dante's head suddenly rising was the only warning I got. I rolled on my back, and screamed as an arrowhead aimed at my head hit me in my shoulder from above. Pikachu's fur sparkled and crackled, he aimed his tail high and... Nothing happened, he collapsed on his trembling legs as his electric potential was now completely depleted.

This was enough of an encouragement for Butch and Rex to swoop down. They were being carried by two crobat, all this time we had thought we were avoiding them, they had been tracking us from the skies, and like professionals, had waited for the best time to strike. Dante opened his mouth to spit fire, but all that came out was smoke, and once again Butch's lasso caught him by the neck. I did try tackling him, but a well-aimed kick forced me down.

To my right, something much more horrifying was happening; Rex was aiming his crossbow at Pikachu's head. Hating myself for the decision I was making, I desperately threw Paul's pokeball. "Cover him!" I yelled, and my slowbro dropped on Pikachu, effectively shielding him from the crossbow bolt but receiving it in his own back instead. Rex looked up surprised, then chuckled.

"What are you waiting for? Finish the rat," said Butch, all the while he was pulling on his lasso. Dante croaked, I could see his face change color and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Nah man, the slowbro's on it, protecting it, can't get a killing shot. And I ain't gonna waste more ammo on a slowbro. Common misconception, people think they're sturdy as fuck, when actually it just takes one arrow to kill them, the pokemon are just too stupid to realize they're already dead and keep moving," Rex explained casually, as he loaded another arrow. "I'll just wait till it bleeds out."

"The fuck you know so much about slowbro?" Butch asked, interested.

Dante's flame was about to die, it was so small, so dim.

"One was my starter."

"Yeah? What happened to it?"

"Cut the tail off and sold it to the highest bidder." Rex smirked, and Butch genuinely laughed.

This was it then. Me and my team's end would come at the hands of these scum. I prepared myself to at least look death in the ey _\- what in the holy flames of moltres is that?_

My shocked expression must have amused Rex when he aimed his weapon at my head. "Any last words Trainer Red?" he asked.

"Foul, wretched villains, thou shall ask thyselves that!" was the reply that came behind him.

Both Butch and Rex turned at once, and their faces mirrored my own.

In front of us stood a giant clefairy, a clefairy the size of Butch, maybe even larger. And next to it stood a regular sized second one.

It took all of us a second to understand that the voice had come from the giant pokemon.

"What in the fucki-" Rex pulled the trigger without finishing his sentence, but the arrowhead just broke against the talking clefairy's hide.

"Your weapons can nay touch justice, fugitives of law!" cried the clefairy. "But justice can aye touch thee!"

And from the outstretched palms of the pokemon erupted flames, catching Rex in their fire.

Rex screamed, and dropped down, but there was nothing he could do, the flames were still pouring down. Butch seemed to ponder on what to do for a second, then - in my opinion - chose the wisest option. He grabbed his crobat's claws and flew away.

"Nay, thou shall not pas- oops sorry, escape, evil of hell!" yelled the giant pokemon. "My faithful sidekick, Graviton shall stop thee in thy tracks!"

The smaller clefairy wiggled her fingers, and the larger one screamed enthusiastically "Fists of Justice - GRAVITY ATTACK!"

And to everyone's surprise, the crobat began descending lower and lower at an incredible pace.

I swore, I next heard the pokemon whisper to itself "Damn it, I had decided to name it 'Call to Justice'. Whatever, it's out now."

Butch, making the second wisest decision of tonight, jumped before the crobat could fall. He landed too far away from us, and ran away, disappearing.

"Worry not, fair citizen! I shall be in pursuit!" The pokemon attempted chase, but a hum from his, ehe, _sidekick_ stopped him. "Ah, thank you for remindi- I mean, thank thee for reminding me a superhero's number one rule, Graviton! Civilians first!"

"And then maybe he can help me..." it whispered to itself again.

I was so much in shock that I barely even felt my open wound. But the giant talking clefairy leaning forward and _taking its own head off_ was too much for me to handle. As I passed out, the last thing I heard was a voice in the darkness.

"Ummmm, hello dear citizen, I was wondering if you could help me out of this suit here. Oh, where are my manners, my name is William "Bill" Stein, and- hello, can you hear me? Hello? Oh dear me, Graviton, I believe he's blacked ou-"

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry for the late update, but a feral dog bit me and I spent the week at a hospital getting checked for rabies and receiving multiple shots. My life is almost as exciting as Red's.**

 **About this Chapter: Weird one, I know. Let's see, the legend of Brass Tower is a story in the games, I just wrote my own version of it. Also, Suicune is much more dangerous here, I like depicting legends as the great powerful gods they are and not toys at the hands of ten-year-olds.**

 **A team rocket grunt with four brothers, anyone caught that reference? If you did, great! In the games, one of the rocket brothers uses two cubone, here he received an upgrade to marowak. Also tried explaining their** " **lightning rod** " **ability realistically.**

 **In yellow, route 24 and 25, north of Cerulean, is where Red meets a charmeleon, has a small Rocket event, and finds Bill. I changed Bill drastically from the game version. Never really liked the whole changing-minds-with-a-pokemon thing to be honest.**

 **Next chapter: Sometime in two weeks, too busy visiting the hospital. Did you all know that if there's a chance for rabies, you need to take multiple shots multiple times in the following 20 days? I certainly didn't.**


	13. Chapter 10: Recognition

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER TEN

Recognition:

Samuel Oak was without doubt the smartest man in Indigo. He was the most respected authority on the subjects of natural sciences and engineering, and even if there existed those close, or in some fields superior to him, they would never dare claim to be his better - at least not to his face. And the reason was quite simple. Unlike most his peers, Professor Oak did not expertise in only _one_ branch, he mastered _all._ His research on pokemon physiology and anatomy was unparalleled, the "Samuel" formula he had found was the only known way of calculating the maximum distance a teleporter could travel, the entirety of the league database system was programmed by him, the economic insights he gave on "The Weekly Show with Mary" always proved right, his designs on Kanto's sea waves power plant to the east coast were detrimental in supplying the entire country electricity, and I did not even have to explain the unhackable masterpiece he had built with Blue's and mine dexes.

So when Professor Oak admitted during one interview that when it came to the fields of software and mechanical engineering, he wasn't even _close_ to understanding the works of young William Stein, well, the media made Bill the most famous person in Indigo almost overnight. Soon, pretty much everyone had heard about the tech genius from Goldenrod and the many patents that belonged to him people had used in their daily lives without knowing, the PC Storage System and capture stylers included.

Bill quickly became a hot topic and was wanted everywhere, interviews, parties, conferences, guest lectures, league meetings... He was invited to them all. And him refusing to attend only made the interest on him grow.

But slowly, as months passed and Bill was never seen in public outside of absolute necessity, opinion on him changed. He became a disliked person in the academic and scientific community for he rarely collaborated with his fellow men and joined their intellectual discussions. Reporters hated him; he was the youngest and richest bachelor in Indigo, but there seemed to be no scandal about him they could print. The one-percent couldn't accept the fact he wouldn't mingle with them, and the general public found him too snobby, what, he couldn't even appear on TV at least once? Soon, as rumors told, there were less than a handful of people who remained in regular contact with him; Professor Oak was one, for he seemed to be the only person Bill always had time for, and then a few military contractors that worked with him on some top secret governmental projects.

I always secretly admired William "Bill" Stein and his approach towards the "normal" people, and I thought of him a man of my own mind. A person of such obvious talent did of course not need to bother with those lesser, and if people thought him arrogant, it was at least righteous arrogance, with a keen mind backing his attitude.

Well, these were all mine and the public's assumptions anyway.

And as I laid down on Bill's couch in his small cottage home, my shoulder covered in bandages and recovering from my injury, I now knew that the truth was much, much different.

It was very, very wise of Bill to not appear in public.

In fact, I would go as far as to say he shouldn't be _allowed_ in public.

Bill was a fucking _freak._ And this came from me, who myself was often defined as abnormal by most and had met his fair share of actually crazy people recently.

From where I was, I could see the shelves of the small living room filled with unopened, still in prime condition action figure boxes. Characters from comic books and cartoons stared at me from all over the place. I only knew the more popular ones, no doubt someone like Blue could name all the other obscure super heroes here. But the plushies all over the floor, them even I recognized. They were stuffed pokedolls of the legends in our world. I counted five Rayquaza, ten Xerneas, and seven Dialga. A common theme the stuffed toys shared was that they were all the good-doing and benevolent figures of legend, there was a noticeable absence of certain other legendaries, those like Giratina, Yveltal, Kyogre...

I realized my eyes were resting a bit normal than usual on one Suicune doll, almost as if... I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Leaning up a bit, I tried glimpsing out of the window, where the giant silhouette of a mechanized clefairy suit could be seen working on the garden.

I now had to come to terms with the fact that, as unbelievable as it sounded, last night I hadn't hallucinated. Indigo's top engineer really was a fantasy hero complexed lunatic posing as a vigilante in a pink fairy suit with added flamethrowers to burn criminals to a crisp.

I had to get the fuck out of here.

A humming sound distracted me, an actual clefairy holding a tray had entered the room. Singing and twirling around, she offered me a cup of aprijuice, a bitter tasting but full of vitamins, vitalizing drink. I took a small sip and nodded my thanks, wondering the story behind one of the rarest pokemon species in the world being reduced to a house maid and why it seemed whenever my life was going to shit I would always encounter this specific species of pokemon.

"Ah, faithful Graviton! Always taking care of those in need!"

I almost dropped the cup in shock, I hadn't heard Bill enter, which was unbelievable since he was still wearing his robo-fairy armor. The head portion of the suit was screwed out and tucked under one arm so that the famous young billionaire's face was poking out. He grinned at my shocked expression and lifted one foot.

"Sound absorbing boots! Alas, in my experience, though it is an act without honor, surprise attacking one's opponents saves many lives!" he explained.

The clefairy openly snickered at him, and Bill's face reddened. "Ehm, by _experience_ , I mean of course only last night. I haven't had the chance to real- I mean, it is unwise to fight crime unprepared! The suit still needs many upgrades, young trainer, and when I am finished, the underworld will tremble with fear at the names of Flamefairy and Graviton, the wonder duo!" He finished his speech with expecting eyes directed at me, obviously waiting on me to give some awe-stricken reaction.

He got none, which was why his voice sounded less confident when he spoke again. "Eh hem, now dear trainer, I am sure you are full of questions, and I'm glad to answer them and elaborate in detail the path that led William Stein in becoming the scorn of darkness, the champion of justice, Flamefairy. You see, it all began years ago, with lack of hope for any intellectual match in the world, I was only left wit-"

The clefairy cleared her throat, interrupting his rambling with a sound of chimes ringing. Bill stared at her crossly, before returning his gaze at me.

"What my faithful _sidekick,_ " he emphasized on the word, giving the clefairy a sideways glance, "is urging me about is, umpfh. This is embarrassing to admit, but do you remember me mentioning the few upgrades my suit needed before it was ready? Well, when last night's events occurred near my doorstep, I _might_ have been too hasty in donning the _not fully functioning_ version of my crime-fighting outfit, and well..." He turned around, allowing me to see two clasped tight buckles on approximately where his shoulder blades were. "I'm... stuck."

He gave me a pleading look. "Now, please dear citizen, do not think me of asking any kind of favor, I've long come to accept this noble duty is thankless, but if you could just maybe find it in your heart to free me, I promise I'll mak-"

I opened the twin locks.

Steam erupted from the opening. A portion of the giant clefairy's back swung wide open, and out stepped William "Bill" Stein himself, coughing and only in his underwear. He looked up and down at himself. "Allow me one moment to be decent, my fellow man, and I shall return in no time to answer all your questions!"

He ran towards the back, leaving me and Graviton alone. I could only stare behind him.

"If you actually want to escape this place but he doesn't let you," I addressed the clefairy. "Give me some sign now. I think we can build a 'non-trainer abusing a pet' sort of case. I promise after I leave I'll come back again with the police."

Graviton giggled. I sighed and waited for Bill.

))(())((

The Moon Base, Bill explained, was Flamefairy's secret headquarters. It was located under Sea Cottage, his humble home was only a front to distract the few visitors he got, and the sub levels could only be accessed by arranging the hands of an old clock to a precise time, therefore unveiling the hidden staircase that led to the oversized basement.

The only reason I had for following him was he had told me my pokemon and dex were there.

On the way down, he kept going on and on about his _mission_ , why he planned on using his money and skills to save the good people of Indigo, and how the patents he owned gave him enough capital to buy secrecy and raw materials for his many crime fighting tools. Of course, he still simply had to play the role of William Stein on occasion, so he kept contact only with those he trusted, like Samuel Oak and bla bla bla... I usually tuned him out, as grateful as I was for him saving me and my team last night, the words he was sprouting were the fantasy filled delusions of a madman with a hero syndrome; pure, absolute nonsense.

Then again, his skill and genius were the real deal, and after finally reaching the lowest level of his retreat, I couldn't help but feeling impressed at the technological marvels he was hiding in his ridiculously named Moon Base.

The floor was tiled in white and above us were same colored fluorescent lights. Numerous machinery of purposes unknown were attached to the surrounding walls, and at one corner stood a great empty glass case, where I suspected Bill normally placed his suit. At the center of the room was a workbench with a blowtorch and two thin sheets of metal on it, possibly an unfinished project Bill was working on. A giant dexscreen was attached to the opposite end of the room, and a small desk covered in papers was placed in front of it. And on top of the stack of papers was-

"Your dex." Bill picked up the device. "Or should I say, my dex? I did contribute in building it after all."

 _Oh_. I suddenly remembered the professor's words from when he first handed me my dex. " _I programmed it myself and sent it over to William. He too added a few tweaks._ "

"The device had an 'Error UP', which I fixed, but it is curious. That error only shows up when this beauty encounters an untraceable pokemon, and well, that simply shouldn't have happened." Bill stared at me for a second, and his tone became more serious. "Have you, Trainer Red, per chance met a beast with enough electro-psionic potential to override your pokedex's tracking algorithms written by myself and Mr. Oak?"

I shook my head, but kept notice of the fact he addressed me by my name. I doubted someone like Bill would recognize me from the battling tabloids, which meant he had probably snooped through my pokedex. _No matter how freaky he acts, this guy is still a genius. Just like I've been assessing him, he's been doing the same to me,_ I thought.

"I see then. It was probably a random bug." Bill's cheerful and optimistic voice returned. "This is once again yours fair Red."

I took the device back, momentarily angry at myself that I kept either breaking or losing it. I really needed to start taking care of this dex better, especially after the time it had saved my life under Mt. Moon.

"As for your pokemon." Bill reached under the desk and pulled a drawer, revealing _four_ pokeballs, three of them too familiar.

 _They all survived._ My eyes tearful and hands shaking, I clipped all three of them back to my belt and left the one I thought belonged to Dante.

Bill was kind enough to turn his back and give me a moment for wiping my eyes. After a minute, he began speaking again "Your pikachu - quite an unusual specimen, I might add, a physical pinnacle of its species! - was completely drained of charge, which was the main cause of its exhaustion. And please keep in mind Red that despite my nightly occupation, I am still a man of science during the day and use my words literally. So when I say 'completely drained', I mean your pikachu had _no_ amount of voltage, and I do not think last night was not a reason on its own for that condition. Any ideas?"

I shook my head again and gently touched Pikachu's ball with my forefinger, imagining how much he wanted to be let out now. _Soon, buddy. Once we're out of here._

Bill rubbed his chin with one hand. "Curious. Anyway, since my mission obligates me to help those in need - men or pokemon, no exceptions! - I treated him with voltaic ores I acquired from Mt. Coronet in Sinnoh during my last visit. They built up your pokemon's charge overnight to a healthy level, and afterwards he collapsed in deep slumber, which was when I took the opportunity of placing him in his pokeball."

There was light in Bill's eyes as he explained his work, he kept smiling to himself. "Your ivysaur was easier to treat. Although the injuries inflicted upon her by those scoundrels were far more severe, they were also those of a physical nature; the wounds on her skin and leg healed sufficiently enough when I placed her under some self-made HPS lights. By morning she was in a better condition, but I would suggest regular sunlight treatment for a full recovery."

I nodded, I was thinking the same thing myself for Callidora. She had taken almost the full brunt of yesterday's attack and was also instrumental in saving and keeping us alive. Without her, I couldn't imagine how last night would have ended for us. I promised myself to treat her for a feast and go easy on her training for the next couple days.

"The arrow wound on your slowbro, that was, forgive my language please, simply _nasty_ to treat." Bill eyed my bandaged shoulder. "Your pokemon's thick flesh stopped the weapon from damaging critical organs, but it appears the arrowheads of these scum were dipped in crobat venom, not the most potent of poisons but one of the harder ones to detect. Luckily, my work is thorough dear Red, and after taking some blood samples, I noticed the toxin spreading - any other pokemon than a slowbro and I would have been too late. I gave him the correct antidotes and then, remembering you too had been hit, checked your blood as well. Unbelievable, but turns out you are _immune_ to toxins specific to the zubat familia."

Bill shook his head in wonder, but this didn't come as a surprise to me. Under Mt. Moon, I had been on the receiving end of a rather violent bat colony onslaught and then dipped naked almost immediately afterwards into a miraculous healing fountain of unknown potential. If that didn't buy you antibodies for life, nothing did.

"Nevertheless, you should know your slowbro is also safe and sound in his pokeball, which leaves us with the late Trainer Nolan's Dante." Bill gestured sadly with his hand the unpicked pokeball.

I raised my guard again. How did Bill know about Nolan? My question was answered before asked, apparently Bill liked the sound of his voice too much.

"After tucking you all in and leaving Graviton to keep company, I ventured out in the unknown, aiming to drag out the final scum who escaped my justice from his hiding hole." Bill's voice was dreamy, as if recounting a tale of adventure. He sighed before continuing. "Alas, my best efforts proved unfruitful, as the villain had escaped without trace. But I did manage to find one item of interest; in a clearing within deeps of the forest, a single pokeball." He pointed Dante's ball.

 _So Butch managed to escape and then got rid of all the bodies? In the time Bill treated us? He must have had maybe an hour at most. These rockets prove themselves even more resourceful and efficient than my initial suspicions. Blue is right, someone in the league must be backing them,_ I thought.

"Perhaps his escape is meaningful, yes, yes, could it be-?! Finally, have I found my arch nemesis, my ultimate villain, have I created him myself?" Bill happily muttered to himself, lost in fantasies once again.

I cleared my throat loudly, bringing him back to earth.

"Ah yes, the ball." Bill went on nonchalantly. "After some examination and searching the league database, I matched it a starter's ball, issued to one Trainer Nolan, who I assume is last night's victim? Why else would you be unknowingly running to my doorstep with another trainer's pokemon? Unless..." Bill gave me a sideways, hopeful glance. "You wouldn't be a _thief,_ would you Trainer Red?"

I shook my head sideways too quickly.

"Ah. So I knew," Bill tried saying cheerfully, though the tone of disappointment in me not being a criminal was evident. "Which leaves us with one problem, wouldn't you agree?"

 _What?_

"What are we going to do with him?" Bill pointed at Dante's ball again. "His original trainer is no more. I can't have him, it would be a shame to keep a trained fighter here in my laboratory, and I can't take him out on my heroic ventures. I would never dare endanger another life aside my own!"

Behind him, Graviton gave an annoyed hum which Bill conveniently ignored. "I suppose I could release him to the wild, but..." He paused dramatically.

I knew what he expected from me, and after last night it would be a lie to say I didn't consider it. From what I knew, Dante was a too loyal pokemon who had stuck with his owner to the end. His species was known for their battle prowess, and to have a fire type in a team always provided offensive power.

But I also knew that Dante was regularly drugged, his impressive stamina at the tournament therefore did not count, and last night his flames were not nearly as powerful as the average of his species. Furthermore, even during my tournament match against him at his best, uninjured and juiced, when Nolan had left the charmeleon alone and without commands against Pikachu and me, he had performed worse than a wild pokemon on its own and had only won that match due to his amped up endurance, proving his natural fighting skills were already blunted under an incapable trainer's treatment.

Even from what limited time I had spent with the charmeleon, I knew that he was a naturally good natured pokemon that would listen to me and not cause trouble, but he had neither the stubborn courage and battling spirit of Pikachu, nor the sharp mind and keen instincts of Callidora, qualities I liked seeing in a main team. I could take him as a backup pokemon like Paul, but even my slowbro had a rare trick up his sleeve, Dante was simply outshone on all fronts.

The logical thing to do would be trading Dante for cash or releasing him. Albeit a good pokemon, I was almost sure he was not a fit for my ambitions.

But pokemon training was not always about logic. Otherwise a pikachu that tried to kill me five years ago would not be today my best fighter. Otherwise a gift ivysaur from an institutionalized random lover would not have saved my life multiple times.

Sometimes, destiny shaped its own self. Sometimes one had to go with guts and abandon logic.

 _Battling is half the responsibility._

I picked up the pokeball and brought it to my lips.

"I couldn't save your trainer. I didn't _try_ to."

If Bill was surprised by my sudden speech, he said nothing.

"I only focused on escape. And when I needed it most, you helped. I called, and you answered. And even if you are silent now, I want you to know I hear you. I hear, this time, _your_ call." I sighed. "What kind of a dick would I be if I didn't answer?"

The sound of a pokeball clicking against my belt echoed.

"That. Was. Epic!" cried out Bill. "Did you try to imitate the speech from issue two-two-eight of Z-Men, when th-"

Tuning him out, and in a better state of mind now that I had my dex and pokemon back, I wanted to leave this place more than ever. I was about to ask Bill the exit when something caught my eye, something previously blocked because of my dex being there.

On top of the stacks of papers, was a small, purple card. An invitation letter, the words were colored in gold and shined brightly:

 _"The Silph Family welcomes you to the coming of age ceremony of its youngest member! A party for all to remember, please join us aboard Vermilion's luscious S.S. Anne!"_

S.S. Anne...

Anne...

Why on earth did this sound so familiar? Why was there a twist in my gut, as if I was missing something importan-

A sudden flashback of the dialogue between the two rockets interrupted my trail of thought.

" _How's your brother doing?_ "

" _Duke's on the Anne mission. He's expecting a promotion._ "

Of fucking course.

I grabbed the invitation on top and hurriedly read the rest of its content. Apparently, the youngest son of Obadiah Silph, one of the wealthiest and influential businessman in Indigo, was turning eighteen the following month, and old man Silph had rented a party boat, inviting all of Kanto and Johto's elite to join.

Lost in thought, I considered the possibility of the S.S. Anne being an actual target for Team Rocket. Admittedly, it was very much not likely. From what I could gather, secrecy was a major rule for these criminals, and I didn't think they would risk exposure by confronting the wealthiest people in the nation. But then again, if there was indeed some plan going on, it seemed like I was the only person who could stop it.

The question was: Did I care to?

Not enough to go out of my way and journey all the way to Vermilion.

But also enough to ask Bill if I could keep this invitation. He seemed surprised, but allowed me to have it, then kept rambling about another favorite issue about his second favorite series. I guessed he didn't plan on attending anyways.

I slipped the invitation in my back pocket. I wasn't going to travel all the way to Vermilion just to confirm a suspicion, but there was no harm done in checking it out, provided I successfully won a badge in Saffron. The third city on my list, if I managed to win my badge and still had time to make it to the party, I planned on indeed investigating. But otherwise, this matter was no concern of mine and simply wasn't worth deviating from my goals.

Deciding on leaving, I interrupted Bill's speech and offered him my hand as a thank you for all he had done. He smiled and shook it.

"Thank you, Trainer Red, for without you, I would still be stuck in my alter ego's outfit. I owe you a favor. I've added my private number to your dex, you need something, name it," he said sincerely.

 _This guy..._ I sighed. Last night he had rescued me and my team from certain death, healed us from our injuries, provided us a safe resting spot, and today he gave me his invitation to an exclusive event freely, yet he still felt like he owed me just because I had opened two locks. _How far does this guy's hero complex go?_ I thought. Then I remembered Professor Oak's words in his last message to me. " _In my experience, it always helps to have accomplished scientists in your corner._ "

Well, even if crazy, when the second most genius mind in Indigo felt like he owed me a favor, who was I to turn that down?

"Yes Bill," I addressed him for the first time, grinning. "When I need something, I'll _definitely_ call."

))(())((

I only released Pikachu from his ball when I deemed I had cleared enough distance from Shell Cottage. I didn't know how he would react, the last time he had been placed in a ball was during his laboratory days, over two months ago. I prepared myself for his angry growls, for him to lash out or even shock me.

But I wasn't ready for him to bury his head between his fore legs, his body shivering as if he had caught a cold, and his constant whimpers, crying, the normally erect and threatening tail curled up, its end tucked under.

It was... a sad sight. On one hand, like always when we spent more than a few hours apart from each other, I couldn't help marvel at his physical beauty; almost as large as a raichu, his fur was sleek and bright, his body was lean and muscular, he radiated health and strength all at once. Which made his current state of mind break my heart even more.

I knelt next to him and put my hand gently between his ears. I tried calming him down, reassuring him with my presence, but there was only so much I could do at the moment. I did not know why Pikachu hated the ball so much, I did not know what painful memories he associated the experience with. And there was no way of me helping him overcome that, he had to deal with the aftereffects of being put in a ball during necessary times like last night on his own.

All I could do was be there for him.

It took a good few minutes for him to stop shaking, and another minute for him to stretch his body and stand up on his feet. Growling quietly, he licked my reached-out hand, sniffing the scar he had given me long ago on my out stretched arm. "Yeah, buddy," I muttered. "You feeling better?"

His fur crackled with electricity in response. Smiling, I stood up. "Let's go then. Lot of ground to cover today."

We walked in the direction Bill had earlier pointed at for me, according to him, that path would lead us back to Cerulean, where I planned on restocking my supplies to prepare for the journey to Saffron. He turned out to be right, half a day's walk later the city's northern gate was in sight.

If the officer was surprised to see a trainer approaching, he did not show it on his face. I knew travelers arriving north of Cerulean were considered suspicious, after all, no cities or settlements existed in those grounds and the routes built there only led to Cerulean Cove, a touristic location for which it was hardly the season. Possibly a new graduate from police academy, he looked bored with his stationed position. His face lightened up though when I gave him my trainer's card.

"Oh, oh! Trainer Red, sir! I watched your battle against Ms. Misty on TV. Pardon me sir, you must be hearing this every day, but it was amazing!" His grin grew on his face. "My sister watched you live, I was so jealous, wait till she hears I saw you in person! Do you mind taking a picture sir?"

I absolutely minded. Shaking my head, I almost snatched my trainer's card back from his hand while Pikachu growled beneath my feet. I walked into the city, leaving the disappointed looking officer behind me.

I was relatively more familiar with the streets and canals of Cerulean now, and I knew the largest trainer's market was near the city square. I noticed that me and Pikachu were drawing stares as we walked, and two kids even rudely pointed at us with their fingers.

 _What is happening?_

Disturbed by looks, instead of walking all the way to the city center, I barged in the nearest store I could find. The shop owner lifted his head from the gazette in his hands and eyed Pikachu. "No pets allow..." he began speaking, but his voice trailed off. He stared at us for a brief moment, before standing up and straightening the front of his shirt.

"Welcome young man," he started in an entirely new voice. "How may I help you?"

Ignoring him, I stocked up on the limited amount of trainer exclusive items available. I didn't like the way he was rubbing his hands together expectantly as I passed the herbs and antidotes I wanted to him. "Ah yes," he said with a sly smile on his face. "These are all trainer exclusive items. I need proper identification."

Fearing the worst, I gave him my trainer's card. His grin widening confirmed my suspicions.

"My, my Trainer Red sir, what an honor!" he said, acting surprised. "Such a big name, in my humble shop, what an honor indeed!"

The expression on my face should have convinced him I wasn't made for small talk. That, or I was betting on the sound of Pikachu's fur crackling doing the job. But apparently subtlety was not this man's strong suit.

"I've read about you of course - two badges by combat! And one from Ms. Misty herself. They call you the greatest prodigy Indigo has ever seen, championship material!" He patted the gazette with one hand while passing my items through his register. "Of course, you probably know all that." He chuckled.

I did in fact not. Apparently, something had happened during the one week after my battle with Misty that everyone in Cerulean had heard the name of Trainer Red. And what's more, with Pikachu being my signature pokemon, I assumed every person here who saw a free roaming pikachu next to a trainer would automatically be right in making a connection, meaning as long as Pikachu was out of his ball, everyone on the street would recognize me.

I tried my very best not to groan loudly - the last thing I needed was more people distracting me, taking my time, forcing me to communicate with them as if we were equals. I did not want to be the single shine of excitement in their otherwise boring, mundane lives.

"And this shop feels the need to support young trainers as yourself Mr. Red, yes we do. Because you youngsters are our future after all, I'm sure some great league position is waiting for you!" The shop keeper was taking forever on giving me a price, I just couldn't wait to leave this city. I was sure part of the reason for the recognition I was getting was that I had defeated these people's own leader, Misty. In other cities I wouldn't be as noticed.

"So, I wouldn't mind giving a talented, upcoming trainer like yourself a special discount." The owner leaned forwards and winked. " _If_ you won't mind me taking a few photos, posting online something small like 'Trainer Red shops here' or so? Not a bad deal, is it?"

I didn't even care anymore. I simply bundled up all my purchased items in my arms, dropped them in my bag, and left cash on the table more than the total price. If the shopkeeper was surprised, I did not know, for I exited the place as fast as I could.

A small crowd was already gathered up front; two teenage girls, a family of three, and a group of boys were snapping pictures of me and Pikachu. They were calling me by name, asking from Pikachu some poses, one of the girls even shyly asked if I had a girlfriend, and the noises were growing, and more people were showing up, and...

 _This is madness._

Under the surprised looks of my fans, I ran away to the one spot I knew in this city no one would find me, Pikachu leading in front. I only stopped running when I safely made it to Melanie's hideout.

 _What in Arceus' name was all that?_ I thought. Pikachu growled next to me as if guessing my thoughts, he too was annoyed by the number of people recognizing us. "All this just means we have to leave Cerulean faster," I muttered. "Let's wait till night here. Then we'll try leaving under the cover of the night."

Pikachu nodded his agreement, and having nothing better to do, he curled up and tried sleeping. Soon, I could hear him snoring. _He must still be exhausted from the other night,_ I thought to myself.

I actually wanted to release Dante and check on him, introduce myself as his trainer properly, but on the small chance that I had misinterpreted his character completely, I decided to only let him out once we were away and off route - it wouldn't do me good if he suddenly behaved aggressively and started fires within city limits. But I did release Callidora.

My ivysaur stretched herself once out, the bud on her back shivered slightly. She eyed her surroundings and snorted at Pikachu sleeping, but I could tell from her expression she was happy to be in a familiar place. I bent on one knee to stay on the same eye level with her and reached out, cupping her face in my hands. She tried wiggling herself free.

"Stop it," I muttered. "Let me check you for injuries." It wasn't that I didn't trust Bill's words on the severity of her wounds, it was just... No, that was exactly it, I didn't trust Bill's words. He wasn't a trainer, only a scientist gone mad, and he didn't know Callidora as well as me. I inspected her face closely, there seemed to be no visible injuries left from Pikachu's attack. Gently, I traced my hand further down to her left foreleg and saw a small scar where the rocket's bolt had hit. Likely, that mark would stay with her forever. I tried swallowing the bile in my mouth as my hatred for the rockets grew exponentially. Shaking my head to calm myself, I moved towards her side, where Pikachu's indirect lightning had traveled through. She made a small whimper from my contact, and her body involuntarily jerked then stood still. I imagined she was acting as if her pain was nothing worth complaining. "None of that," I said while reaching my bag to grab some rawst and cherri berries. I crushed and mixed them together with water, making a small ointment that helped paralyzed nerves and burned skin recover relatively quickly. I rubbed the mixture on her entire side in small, gentle moves. She tried her best to keep still, but occasionally she would still shake and grit her teeth. After ten minutes of rubbing, I was nearly done. "Vine," I ordered. She looked at me innocently. "The vine," I repeated. Having no choice, she extended the vine that had made initial contact with Pikachu's lightning.

I blew a long whistle. The vine was charcoal black at its end, definitely dead. If I did not cut it out soon, Callidora would be infected once the rot made its way to her main body. This was a common problem with grass type pokemon; their extensions were usually the first place to be injured, and once retracted, since they were out of sight, trainers would miss the wounds that eventually killed or maimed the pokemon. "Brace yourself," I said as I pulled a small knife from my bag. My ivysaur pleaded with her eyes, but I ignored her and held the extended vine down with one hand. "On three. One, two-" I cut on two.

I inhaled sharply as another thorny vine came and made a small cut on my face as Callidora headbutted me with a loud growl. I fell on my back but saw the dead vine fall silently, the cut was clean. I picked it up and threw it in the water.

Callidora was still snarling. "Get over it." I rolled my eyes. "You'll grow a new one." She still seemed displeased, so I decided on giving her the surprise I had planned for her once we were travelling again. "You know," I began as I picked up my bag. "I never thanked you for last night. You did an amazing job noticing the noctowl, and even more amazing job by stopping us from stepping on an execution. And picking up the marowak bone so thunder could travel through to your captor, genius." Her growls lessened, and now she had a more embarrassed rather than annoyed look on her face. "So here: Enjoy." I dropped a mixture of pokeblocks, berries, and roots; a genuine poke feast.

She dug right in, and I couldn't help but chuckle at her appetite. I normally kept my pokemon on a strict diet, and sugar filled candies like pokeblocks were always out of menu. Pokeblocks were the equivalent of human junk food for pokemon, they were no good as nutrition for a fighter - the last thing I wanted was a fat ivysaur. "All's forgiven I take?" I asked. The answer was a mouthful, pleasant growl.

With Pikachu sleeping and Callidora eating, I sat down and decided on checking my fixed pokedex. I wanted to see Sabrina's bio and begin preparing strategies against her, and also maybe read the local news for some explanation of the fame I was getting.

I got bad news on both fronts.

"Arceus dammit!" I slapped my hands on the ground so hard that Pikachu twitched in his sleep and Callidora lifted her head up from her dish for a second. "Listen to this," I complained. "It's a league issued order. Saffron's gates are closed indefinitely, only access allowed is through flight, shadowing, or teleportation. What the hell is the reas- Oh, wait. Woah. Snorlax sighting. Two of them."

I sighed. The league's sudden order now made sense. Snorlax were omega level pokemon, meaning they were treated as threats of the highest order. There were four levels of classification when it came to wild pokemon, and in determining them, though there were some exceptions for certain pokemon, the rule was generally simple: How many men - men, not trainers with the aid of other pokemon, only men - would it take to kill the certain pokemon? If the answer was a small number, said pokemon would be classified as gamma level. These pokemon were generally first or second stage evolutions, like my current team. For beta level pokemon there was usually a need of projectile weapons and a hunting party of at least ten strong men, and for alpha levels serious measures needed to be taken.

But omega levels, omega levels were different. They were natural catastrophes, they by their lonesome could wipe out entire human settlements. It was mainly against these monsters that the first of trainers emerged. These were why the league existed; only experienced leaders could stand toe to toe to these monsters, only the four and the champion could defeat them alone. Gyarados who could summon the storms of the seas, abamosnow that left entire cities under snow, dragonite with their impenetrable skin and unmatchable strength were all examples to omega level monsters, as with their miraculous healing factors and unending, voracious appetites that forced the beasts to consume all in its path till sated, were snorlax.

League rangers normally did a good job in isolating these threats from society, forcing them to keep to themselves in their mountains and caves, so if two snorlax were on the loose so near Kanto's capital, it meant someone had screwed up badly. Not surprisingly, I read further that Bruno of the Elite Four was sent from the Plateau to track and hunt these beasts down.

There was nothing I could do. Without doubt Saffron's gates would be closed until the snorlax were hunted, and who knew how long would that take. Once again, like in Pewter, I was stuck. With my winnings from Misty I could afford a one-way porting to Saffron, but my remaining money would only be enough to cover one battle against Sabrina, and I wasn't sure I could defeat her in a single go. A mutant, Sabrina was the most powerful human psychic to existence, and she was one of the league's most valuable, youngest assets. Arguably, among all the leaders in Indigo, if you would to exclude Giovanni and Clair, Sabrina was the strongest, and there were rumors she would be soon offered Elite Four membership with Will, another psychic trainer, retiring from the position. It was because I respected her strength as a trainer that I wanted to challenge her sooner rather than later; with increasing badge numbers, the gym rules changed and tipped slightly more in favor for an equally termed battle rather than the challenger having the advantage of numbers, like when I had used three pokemon against Misty's two, or two against Brock's one. If I had challenged them for my, let's say, fifth badge instead of first and second, no doubt would we be fighting evenly and I would have lost.

But now, with the path to Saffron closed, a change of plan was needed. I could already see fate leading me to Vermilion, begrudgingly, I accepted it was too huge of a coincidence me overhearing the rockets' Anne plan and then acquiring an invitation to the same named ship docked in the only available city for me to reach from Cerulean with Saffron inaccessible. Different from Pewter, where I was stuck and had to resort to a creative plan like traveling under Mt. Moon, the route here was clear, it was to Vermilion.

And I was still hesitating.

The truth was, I knew Vermilion City Gym's challenger rules, every trainer did. Because unlike the other gyms where the rules were adjusted to your badge numbers, Vermilion Gym had only one never changing rule for its challengers, one Leader Surge took full advantage of. This made Vermilion was one of the toughest gyms to win a badge. Many trainers avoided it, as I had wanted to in my initial route I had planned for my journey.

But now that Saffron was impossible to reach and Vermilion was my new destination, preparation for Surge and his team couldn't wait, I had to train my team immensely during the walk there. And as if dealing with that problem wasn't enough, I had another pressing but unrelated issue to handle.

I had been wrong in assuming my fan base was strictly local.

According to my dex, I was now famous in _all_ of Indigo. My name was being discussed in forums and platforms, newspaper sites were mentioning me in title, and apparently, I now had my own official fan club. I scurried through the news of past week to find an explanation for all this.

From what I could gather, the reason was twofold. Firstly, I was already a record breaker with my victory against Brock, but even the least familiar with battling could understand I had played him psychologically, our match had not been a battle between respectful opponents, but rather one side tricking the other into underestimation. Though the win was enough for me to make a name, most commentators had described the victory as a fluke, and heat on me hadn't grown too much.

However, my victory against Misty was clean, albeit confusing. After the battle, most had not understood how I had won, trick room was a strategy not common to ordinary viewers after all. But a win was a win, and had proved I was not a random lucky rookie, and actually a capable, aware of what he was doing trainer. That victory had made me taken seriously in the competitive arena, and a few famous commentators had even quoted that "young Trainer Red and his fan favorite Pikachu was worth keeping eyes on".

Though this explained why the professionals and actively interested fans would know me, it was not enough of an explanation for why a middle-aged shop keeper in Cerulean would recognize me. Then I watched the video of a nationwide famous radio host, DJ Ben, mentioning me in name, posted two days after my battle against Misty.

 _"Yo, yo, yo, good evening Indigo!"_ it began. _"Tonight we gotta hip show for y'all as always; we got some old school rock, announcements for last week's prize winners, and you asked for it, so Goldenrod Radio did it for you! All the way from the land of ideals and truth, lead singer and guitarist of the Dogars, Roxie will be joining us at the end of our show for some Q and A time - and maybe some live performance? Keep those calls coming Indigo, and we'll see!"_

 _"But before all that, I just gotta get something off my chest Indigo. Man, I'm in love, and you're not going to believe it, it's a dude. I wanna talk a bit about my main man Pokemon Trainer Red here y'all and forgive me for acting fangirly, but this dude is hard-fricking-core. I first heard of this guy in the tabloids 'bout a month ago. Kid is a seventeen years old early graduate from Pallet - and he breaks the Indigo time record on quickest badge? Against Brock? Now I know Brock, fans will remember him from our show, kind enough to always show up when asked, so I'm like, really? A kid from Pallet? Mmmkay, trash news, you got my attention, I'll watch the battle."_

 _"And from the first fucking second I'm like - wait a minute - dude Brock, this guy's playing you. I know performance gents and gents, because who are we kidding, the gals listening to this show ain't ladies. Anyway, this kid is up there against a onix that can swallow him whole, and his whole face is in fear and shit - but that's just it, ain't it? Shit. Yo, this boy is FAKING fear against an ONIX y'all, this kid crazy! I got it the second I saw him, takes a performer to know one, and I'm thinking what the hell? What's his endgame? And I'm not going to bore y'all with the details, but know it includes a pretty bug, a rat, and an onix falling on its ass - no offence Brock my man."_

 _"Now I'm intrigued viewers, I'm intrigued. I watch the video over and over, and I can't just get over how perfectly executed every single action is. This kid, I think to myself. This kid gonna make it. This kid ain't gonna sit on his ass. Me thinks this kid is soon gonna blow the world."_

 _"Now two days ago, this kid wins another one, against Misty. And he doesn't know it, but I'm watching this one live man, wasn't gonna miss it. Guess what I saw Indigo? I saw total pawnage. I saw a one-man roller coaster stone cold killer ride named Red. I saw - excuse my pun - a game of roulette and the revolver exploding on Misty's head. And you know the best part is Indigo? Red don't give no fuck. His first pokemon is almost on verge of death - Red gives two-minus-two amounts of fuck. He beats Misty's ace to a pulp - his face has the total time my parents spent with me amounts of fuck. And when he wins, the crowd cheers his name and asks speeches or waves and shit - you know what Red does? He turns around, pulls his tiny ass cap tighter, and walks out giving - you guessed it Indigo - zero amounts of fuck."_

 _"Like I said Indigo, I'm in love with this guy, his team, his swagger, his cap, his name. I wanna meet his ma and pa and shake their hands, because remember Indigo, you heard it here first: Pokemon Trainer Red - he the guy soon we'll all be talking about. So, this next piece is for the hardest trainer out there right now. Trainer Red, man, you listening out there, know that this DJ's your first fan of more to definitely come - not that you'll likely give a fuck. Keep chill Red, keep chill!"_

This was the absolute worst trick anyone could pull on me, so much that I almost considered Blue might have been behind it. A popular celebrity show host giving my name to the masses for appreciation during prime hour, no wonder everyone in the city wanted a piece of me. I shut off my dex, discomforted and unable to read anything else that had my name on the title.

Putting aside my indifference against people and hatred for unnecessary interaction, the reason I had gotten so far so quickly in my career was people underestimating me. Brock definitely paid for that, so did Jessie and James when torturing me. Misty was more prepared, but even she couldn't guess I was willing to sacrifice my first mon to set up so I could sweep the rest. In short, my battling style worked best when I was the underdog, I was good at finding unexpected ways to wiggle out of impossible situations. It was an exceptional trait to have, but like all the leaders I faced had warned me, it wouldn't be enough if I aimed higher. Unfortunately, until my team evolved and grew enough to win matches on strength alone, this was the best game I had and it did not work well under the spotlight DJ Ben had brought me. Now that the media, the _real_ media, not tabloid bloggers and small-time battle commentators, were interested in me, gym leaders would have to try their absolute best in trying to defeat me, leaving no room for mistake, for otherwise _their_ battling strategies would also be criticized live. The only way possible I could see to cool this heat on me was to...

I grinned to myself, not believing that I almost considered deliberately losing a match just to keep the mightyena at bay. I looked at Pikachu sleeping and Callidora eating, and my heart filled with affection. They were the only weapons I needed, last night had proved it. True, the path in front of us had now gotten more difficult, but the goal itself hadn't changed. _In hindsight,_ I thought to myself. _Blue's plan to train first and battle second was exactly made to prevent the situation I am in now: Keeping your rivals guessing, giving as less clues about your potential as possible, and hitting them when they least expected it. He really has a plan for everything doesn't he?_

 _No,_ I corrected myself. _Not against me._ A sudden flicker startled me, I looked up and noticed the street lights slowly turning on one by one. Night had fallen, and if I was to escape this city unseen, now was the time. I recalled Callidora and woke up Pikachu. "Hope you're rested," I said. "Because we have a long journey in front of us till Vermilion."

He looked confused; although he did not know where each city was located geographically, he knew that our initial destination was to a city of a different name. "Yeah, lots changed while you snoozed," I continued. "Like I said, I hope you're ready. Because I want to clear route K05 to the south tonight. And then..."

Pikachu looked up questioningly.

"And then... we go underground." I finished.

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry for delay, but I decided on editing the grammatical mistakes on the previous chapters before hitting the 100k words mark on my fic - NOTHING story wise has changed.**

 **Also, double chapter. Have run reading the next one too.**


	14. Chapter 11: On the Road Again

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER ELEVEN

On the Road Again:

During the early years of Agatha's reign, Indigo underwent a period of industrialization. Economy was stable, wild attacks had been cut to an all-time low by in most of the people's opinion the strongest league government ever built, technology and scientific research were prospering thanks to the then young bright minds of those such as Samuel Oak, Ken Fuji, and Marcus Gideon, and foreign policy was handled delicately via the diplomatic skills of Elite Four members Pryce and Giovanni. In short, Indigo's capital was growing, and I supposed it showed the quality of Agatha's leadership when she decided to invest all that money in advancing society and easing her citizens' lives instead of, well, embezzling, or waging war.

It would be a lie denying the fact that the greatest advancements and discoveries our nation made were during the time of Agatha. Great mining facilities were opened in Pewter and Olivine where the carved or dug out raw materials would be sent to Saffron and Goldenrod for processing and then eventually off routes for construction. Great factories and power plants were built, and mass production of many products which eased humans' lives began. The first automobiles and steamships were assembled during these times, and the connecting magnet train between Indigo's two realms' capitals made transportation between cities commonplace rather than a luxury. The invention of guns was revolutionary in the fight against the wild, later it became mandatory for patrolling rangers to carry sidearms along with their trained pokemon. And as our means of self-protection grew, so did our need for more space, more land to fit everything that was ours. In just a few years, areas that were previously inaccessible due to the strengths of the wild pokemon dwelling there became conquered and tamed. New settlements and routes to connect these were built, more factories and power plants were erected, and for a decade, Indigo was on a good path as an ever-growing, bountiful, and powerful nation in peace.

Too bad it all only lasted a short while.

Nobody knew what tipped them off, but in hindsight, it was predictable as it was inevitable; if mankind ever did stand a chance to prosper on its own, it would have already become the dominant species already. And during Indigo's industrial revolution we actually believed we were exactly that, until the truth reminded itself harshly.

There were no words to describe that period of our history, except for maybe a loosely defined term to summarize it all: The wild. Every book I read on the issue elaborated the causes of the disaster differently, and I remembered once asking my mother for details of those days before my time. She had dropped whatever she was working with at the moment and told me quietly that even though she was a little girl when it all happened and barely recalled much, the horrors of those days were better left not mentioned. I hadn't pressed further; I knew she had a tendency to keep to herself and spare me painful memories of hers, but my curiosity had been peeked. At the next visit of mine to the Oak household, this time I had asked Blue's grandfather about it, he was sure to know about it being at the center of it all. The image of his first few seconds of silence, then him stroking his chin and harshly uttering the words "We made a mistake", refusing to say more on the matter, was still burned to my mind today.

From what I could gather, what happened was simple. Mankind was at a point where he was self-sustainable. He could grow, feed, fight, and build on his own. And if we lived on any other world, that would have been enough. But we didn't, we were in a world of pokemon. And by being self-sufficient, we betrayed the age old agreement between man and beast: Man offered pokemon strength through bonding and training, pokemon offered servitude at man's needs. Once we were close for eliminating our need of them through the means of technology, the other side brought down its wrath: The wild came down in all its glory. Hordes and hordes of monsters were unleashed until it came to the point where we were out of bullets and outnumbered. Our champion, four, and leaders could not be everywhere at once, our rangers and trainers were killed by numbers, and every newly built settlement and factory was lost. We were at their mercy, they kept slaughtering us and trampling our buildings, and their rampage only stopped once all our production facilities were down.

A good chunk of the population was lost, but for those remaining a lesson, no, a law of nature was taught, a law equally as unbreakable as those of physics. If there was any chance of growth for humanity in this world, it had to be with pokemon. Our two species had to walk towards the future _together_ , otherwise nature would catastrophically balance itself. The great minds of that era humbly bowed their heads and reorganized their plans for Indigo's future accordingly.

That being said, there did still today remain some remnants of that era. True, all weapon and automobile factories were razed by the wild's rampage and were never rebuilt again, but now and then you could still see a car or old pickup that had survived those times. In the news, you would still hear officers busting criminals carrying or dealing remaining firearms. And for some inexplicable reason the magnet train was spared, so we still had that. But perhaps the largest and still used relic of them all stood in front of me: The entrance to Kanto's underground highway.

Positioned as a giant crossroads in the middle of Kanto, the underground connected the four main cities surrounding Saffron for drivers who once wished to avoid its crowded traffic. Now that there were hardly any vehicles left, it still served the same purpose, except this time for pedestrians and bike riders. It was not a popular choice of route, with cars gone, so was Saffron's traffic and basically the need to use the underground at all, but it had been regularly maintained and properly lighted by the league government for reasons unknown, and it was still open for public usage. My guess was the league hoped it could remain useful as a bunker for civilians in case of war, but nowadays the only proper time the underground was appreciated was when if for some reason Saffron's gates were closed.

Like today.

Pikachu and I had managed to sneak out of the city without drawing attention to ourselves and traveled all night on route K05 until we reached the point where the entrance to the underground was visible. During the walk, in hopes of capturing something, I had journeyed off route for a while and was rewarded with a feral persian hoping to make a meal out of me before Pikachu shocked it unconscious and also an abandoned poochyena cub crying. Both of them were now in pokeballs and clipped to the left side of my belt, where trainers traditionally hung the non main team members of their team.

Despite having not slept the entire night, I didn't feel tired; I had rested plentiful at Bill's the day before and done nothing except fiddling on my dex yesterday. Pikachu too seemed at full strength, so it was time for me to handle something I had long avoided, something I would rather do before entering the underground and risk harming innocents.

It was time to introduce the new recruits.

"Stay still now," I warned Pikachu as I first released Callidora. My ivysaur greeted me with a pleasant growl but hissed towards Pikachu - they were never on friendly terms, and I imagined Pikachu sending a bolt at her face during the whole rockets shenanigan didn't improve their relationship. To my surprise, instead of his usual aggressive response towards her, Pikachu kept quiet. I guessed he knew he was at fault for his last attack on her and him bottling his battling instinct was a form of apology. But Callidora was still glaring nastily, and I saw Pikachu's tail twitching.

Ignoring those two's bickering, I next let Paul out. I couldn't help but feel sad at the sight of my slowbro; his front body was covered in burn marks from Roulette's attacks, the smooth pink skin on his back had a visibly large scar from Rex's crossbow, and I did actually feel a twinge of guilt when it came to how I had treated him so far. He however yawned happily when he saw me and waddled his way on his two feet to take a spot next to Callidora. As far as I could tell, he harbored no hard feelings for me, which was probably because he was too dim to comprehend I had used him so far as nothing more than a meat shield to take hits.

Smiling a bit too tightly, I scratched the top of his head affectionately as he walked past. I did take notice though he had chosen to stay closer to Callidora than Pikachu, subconsciously probably deeming her a better friend, teammate. It wasn't all that surprising considering it was these two and their joint training that had defeated Roulette, Paul was more familiar to her than Pikachu, but I didn't really like that lines were beginning to be drawn too clearly, too early in my team. Pikachu's low, but proud and challenging, growl, and Callidora's smug face also proved they too were feeling a power balance and hierarchy being established in the team.

Truth be told, there was nothing I could do to avoid this. This inner fighting was the reason why most trainers went with a type core, same type pokemon always got along better and were easier to train. _I made a mistake,_ I admitted to myself. _I should have thought more on team building._ It was a lacking on my part, long term preparation was not my forte, that was more up Blue's alley. Even during our training school years, I had always focused more on the battling aspect and individual strengths of pokemon rather than them acting as a cohesive unit covering each other's weaknesses. Which was why I had always wanted to avoid Surge's gym.

 _No use in whining now,_ I thought as I stared at my three pokemon I had won my second badge with. _Let's get out of our comfort zone._ "Stay back for this one," I warned my older team members and then threw the pokeball that used to belong to the late Trainer Nolan.

A roar echoed, and Dante the charmeleon, his skin beautifully red and his tail flame bright, straightened up, looking me directly in the eyes. _Good,_ I thought. _Shows confidence._ I could hear Pikachu's surprised growl and Callidora's annoyed whimper behind me, but I would deal with them later. Right now, I had to win over this pokemon whose owner was killed.

"Funny this is the first time we properly meet." I knelt down on one knee to his eye level - though shorter than me, Dante was surprisingly tall for a second stage evolution. "I am Red."

The answer came in him puffing smoke; the light color showed me he was not in a hostile mood and that my initial suspicions were correct, this was indeed a pokemon who was obedient and trusted easily. But a closer examination of him also confirmed my other suspicions, Dante was not really that strong of a pokemon. His body was tall yes, but he was too thin and lacked muscle. I wondered if this was an outcome of him being hooked on drugs, he had never had the need to strengthen his body naturally after all. And though I did not know much about the rockets' drug "ex", I knew it was strong, which brought a possibility for Dante to suffer from withdrawal. Though I had definitely made my mind on keeping him, I wasn't really sure of how much he would help me in my goals, and that did worry me.

Until maybe I saw his eyes.

A moment of understanding passed between us, similar to when Pikachu had shocked me five years ago, similar to when Callidora and I were under the bridge. Eyes were the windows to the soul, a common saying only partially true. Partially, because for me it was absurd to assume eyes could reflect an _entirety_ of variety of emotions, the whole vast spectrum of character, the defining traits of one's self. No, in my opinion, eyes were extremely good at faking hate, faking fear, and most definitely faking _love._ Eyes were never meant to be the see-through glass most people assumed them to be, but there was one case of exception, one state of mind that no matter how good you tried hiding under your behavior and body language, the eyes would always betray.

Desperation.

An overly attached monster like Dante needed purpose in his life, craved for it. He was a lab mon, he was not like Pikachu grown in the wild, not like Callidora from the back-alley streets. He was bred for a purpose: To become a starter. He was taught a purpose: Obedience. He was trained for a purpose: Victory. Victory at all costs, no matter the self-harm inflicted by drugs, no matter the incompetence displayed by the master. Survival was second, self-importance nonexistent. A soldier following his incapable commander through hellscape to suicide, that had been Dante's life. A life that had ended with Nolan being mauled by those marowak. A life that had been reignited by my call.

The desperation Dante had was the dread he felt from me possibly rejecting him. I didn't know if he was already born naturally too dependent and submissive, or if was made this way under Nolan's upbringing, but the truth was, I was sure if I were to leave him here, not take him with me, or release him, he would most probably lie down and wait to die. It was fucked up, but that meant right now there were no measures Dante would not take, no lines he would not cross to get me to accept him.

And it was that desperation for approval of his that convinced me he would in fact aid me on my journey and not be a liability.

"Okay then," I said, standing up. "I hear you Dante. You are mine." Dante roared back at me, and behind I heard both Pikachu and Callidora's protesting squeals. "You will be on bench for now with Paul though. We'll see how you grow from there," I continued. "That's Paul by the way." I pointed at my slowbro who greeted this newest recruit with a happy burp. "Pikachu. Callidora. Meet Dante." Their greeting growls were not as friendly; Callidora as a grass type was instinctively already wary of fire types, and Pikachu hadn't really gotten over losing against him. Moreover, they both associated him with the troubles we had encountered with the rockets.

It was interesting how team dynamics quickly shifted. Callidora and Pikachu were ready to brawl a minute ago, now they stood a united front against a common threat. Dante though seemed to ignore all of them, it was as if their growls were falling on deaf ears, and that seemed to infuriate my two pokemon more. I had some guesses to why he was behaving like that, but I needed more time knowing him to confirm them.

The reveal of the poochyena was less dramatic; the minute he was released he began crying so loud that Pikachu immediately collapsed on him and pinned his head to the ground. The poor pup was terrified dead and instantly quieted. Satisfied, Pikachu backed down, and surprisingly the poochyena followed and stood next to him, head always lowered and tail tucked.

The poochyena and mightyena line were pack animals in the wild, the fact that I found this one alone proved he had probably been kicked out due to weakness. He would do me no good as a trainer's mon, but I still wanted to train him and get him familiar to human speech so I could sell him as a pet in Vermilion. Plus I wanted to pit him against Paul, I wondered how he would fare against a dark type. I didn't bother with naming him, once named by a person, pokemon had difficulty adapting to a new name if traded or sold to a new owner. I just took the final remaining pokeball and let the wild persian loose.

This caused a short fight, which was what I expected and was the reason for me releasing the persian last. Unlike the meek poochyena, this mon was a grown, adult female, a predator and hunter, a true wild pokemon. Once released, she would of course try escaping captivity, and her species' being known for their incredible speed, I wanted my full team out to corner her. Before she could even move, Callidora's vines tripped her legs and Pikachu shocked her senseless. A surprising contribution came from Dante, who whirled around himself and slapped the persian on her face with his flaming tail. The persian mewled in pain and laid still.

I carefully examined the beaten into submission persian. Her muscles were toned, her body was lean, and her claws were sharp. She looked strong, I was sure she could rip through my team except for Pikachu and Callidora. This pleased me, for I had actually caught this persian to test my training skills. Up until now, almost all my pokemon had been handed over to me, already familiar with human speech and accustomed to orders. Pikachu was my starter, Callidora was Melanie's pet, and Paul and Dante belonged to other trainers, as did Poka... My track record with my in wild caught pokemon was honestly, pretty bad. My first wild caught pokemon zigzagoon was so weak training him did not count, venonat and butterfree were bug types that shared an aptitude to hierarchy, and my mankey had hated me and abandoned me at the first sight of trouble. Just like how I trained my pokemon to overcome their weaknesses and sharpen their strengths, I too needed to improve constantly, and this persian would serve as an experiment for me, to see if I could finally make a loyal trainer's mon out of a beast from the wild.

Plus, we were about to enter the underground, where the only wild pokemon lived were the mice. Rattata, sandshrew, and pikachu roamed there, and persian were these pokemon's natural enemy. I didn't expect anything, but my adventures had made me paranoid, and with my luck, if for some reason the underground was shut down while we were down there, having a mon that could hunt meat would be a bliss.

The glare Pikachu gave me meant he probably had guessed my line of thought and was not quite happy with it, though I doubted he was happy about anything that went down today. As if Callidora one upping him and the inclusion of Dante to our merry band were not enough, he now had to deal with a predator to his species on the team. _Well, he's going to like what comes next even less then,_ I thought.

"Okay, everyone knows each other now, right? Great," I addressed my group of six pokemon. "Let's move."

It took a brief moment for my pokemon to understand what I meant.

And then they went crazy.

I sighed and sat down, waiting for their fight to end, remaining objective. This was necessary if we were ever going to win against Surge, and I would rather have this dealt with now than later.

Of course the first thing my persian tried to do again was escape, but a bolt from Pikachu, this time not holding back, dropped her. The slight pause Pikachu took to shock her however was an opportunity for Callidora to wrap him up in vines, when an unnaturally brave biting attempt from the poochyena, who I suspected somehow accepted Pikachu as his pack leader, distracted her enough for Pikachu to let loose thunder aimed at her face. The vines loosened, and Pikachu broke free to circle Callidora, seeking a weak point in her defense, but my ivysaur was too smart to give him one; four vines were whipping all around her, and the bud was sprouting random powders and leeches, keeping Pikachu away and denying him physical contact. This did not stop Pikachu however, and in my opinion what was a genius move, he began slowing down, just barely dodging her attacks, tried tricking Callidora into following him, aggravating her and goading her to act offensive.

It worked, and when Callidora aimed for Pikachu with all four vines at once, Pikachu suddenly moved quicker and dodged the blow with ease, but the blow's momentum could not be cancelled, and the impact hit Dante, at full speed, knocking him down.

 _Brilliant,_ I thought to myself. Pikachu had brought Callidora into a position he had wanted, and now the previously only observing charmeleon was forced into fight, a fight Callidora was suddenly disadvantaged in. Dante roared and spit his hot flames towards Callidora. The ends of her vines caught fire, and she put them out by hitting them on the ground multiple times. This of course left her defense open, and Pikachu was already in the air, fur crackling and jaw snapping, and was just about to land on Callidora, when-

 _Aha. Magnificent._

Callidora avoided Pikachu at point blank range and even landed some leech seeds on. Normally, Pikachu's agility and speed should have prevented this outcome, but Callidora was not without allies of her own. Paul's eyes were glowing, a trick room was in place, and now the slower team of Paul and Callidora had an advantage over Dante and Pikachu. Then again, the room wouldn't last long, Paul hadn't had that much time to build it. Only his concentration was holding it in place, and that broke when suddenly out from his own shadow jumped the poochyena, biting him by the leg.

The split second before the room broke Callidora tackled Dante, knocking his physically weak body out. At almost the same time Pikachu sent a bolt to Paul, paralyzing him still. The poochyena was also down, before Pikachu's attack, a whip of Paul's shell covered tail had done the job.

The only two pokemon on the field in front of me still standing were Callidora and Pikachu, panting from effort, growling at each other. Deciding it was enough, I stepped in.

"Good. Got it out of your system. But my decision is final. This is how it's going to be. Don't like it, you'll have plenty of opportunities to dish it out on the way." I raised my eyebrows, challenging them to disobey me. "Any objections?"

Slowly, Callidora retracted her vines while Pikachu stopped crackling his fur. They looked at each other displeased, but stopped otherwise hostile actions.

"Great." I applauded. "We'll wait till the others wake up. Then we're on the move. _All of us._ " I accentuated on the last part.

They growled, but otherwise did not object to the order that had prompted the fight. I looked to the entrance of the underground, on foot, it would take near twenty days to reach Vermilion.

Twenty days where I would not keep my pokemon in their balls. Twenty days where they would all be out in the open, most likely to repeat today's drama. I gritted my teeth, I did not like having to do this, but it was absolutely necessary in order to defeat Vermilion Gym's challenge.

 _Let's just hope this works._

))(())((

 _Surge,_ I read his bio. _Often referred to as Lieutenant. Early graduate from training school, Surge studied at Olivine, Fuchsia, and Vermilion gyms, and afterwards joined Indigo's military. Exceptionally talented in strike operations, Surge retired when during the Sevii uprisings a stray nidoqueen dart hit his left eye, permanently blinding him. His exceptional service record was enough for the league to appoint him Vermilion's Gym Leader. His main team consists of: Ampharos. Electrode. Magnezone. Raichu. Electrivire. Jolteon. His signature pokemon: Ira the Raichu. His starter: Acedia the Elekid._

I switched to the second tab open on my dex and read for the umpteenth time the single line written there that explained Vermilion Gym's rule. _For all challengers, regardless of their badge numbers, 3vs3 triple battle._

This was the horror of Vermilion Gym: Team battles. Single battles were already hard enough for most trainers, yet alone double or triple battles. Whenever the number of pokemon on the field increased so did the parameters that needed to be taken into account. Not only did the trainer have to act cautious against the many opponents across, plan and coordinate strategies accordingly, the trainer's own team had to be managed as well, otherwise it was possible for team members to turn on each other. To win a team battle, the pokemon had to have incredible type synergy and coordination with each other, a significant quality right now my pokemon team lacked, and one I wished to overcome by forcing them to travel and train out in the open, together.

It wasn't going great, but at least walking in the underground was nothing like tunneling through Mt. Moon. Here, though the road was old and had holes and cracks, it was at least wide. Moss covered the walls and there were some signs of plant life, so the air was relatively fresh. The ceiling stood high, we had a clear sense of space and of night and day, for once the clock hit seven thirty pm, the side lights on the walls would automatically switch from bright white to dim red. Also, there was the comforting presence of the occasional other travelers we saw; a wagon pulled by two tauros had passed us the day before, a group of trainers had walked with us a while the first few days but with Paul slowing our tempo, they had eventually gone ahead, and just today we saw a couple on a pair of rapidash galloping ahead. We usually kept to ourselves, because the road was so wide we didn't need to interact much, and we were almost always too busy training anyway.

The wild pokemon here minded their own business, at most we would see a rattata jump in front of us and then dart away scared. It was hard to reign back my persian during those times, she would eye her prey, longing to chase after it, then hatefully mewl at Pikachu who always kept a close eye on her. It wasn't as if I never let her hunt, it was just she was only allowed to at a time of my choosing, and with always either Callidora of Pikachu accompanying her. I disliked keeping a leash on her freedom, but I knew otherwise she would just run off. Her training wasn't going well either, I usually pitted her against Dante against whom she always won, but never through the usage of tactics I tried imparting on her. Her wild instincts told her to attack from her opponents' behind and she was fast enough to find a suitable angle to do that, but a charmeleon's back was as dangerous as its front, a swing from Dante's tail would needlessly injure her. The only reason for her victories was her superior strength.

Dante's own training was surprisingly going well, he was by far the most obedient of my pokemon, and the effort he put in was second only to Pikachu. Even in the short amount of time passed, he had improved greatly, he now executed the usage of his tail, claws, and fangs in battle much better thanks to my instructions, and we were working on increasing the destructive effect of his flames. I kept sprinkling dusts of charcoal over his meals, and there were long, infuriating exercises where I ordered him to burn piles of rocks I gathered. The task was of course impossible, but it served the purpose of testing his upper limit and endurance.

Despite his growth, he was by no means a good battler yet. Although he dittoed my commands perfectly and was genuinely giving his best to obey my training instructions, that was all he had for himself. He showed zero initiative when battling, and his instincts were dulled, even if he could catch the scent of an attack from the persian I put him up against, he usually didn't know how to counter and swung wildly. He was almost similar to writing a dex program in that manner; he executed the typed in commands perfectly but crashed when something unexpected came into play. Furthermore, he had great issues with muscle training, he was almost on par with the poochyena pup when it came to strength, so weak that I never understood how Nolan had managed to evolve him from a charmander. All I could guess was the ex drug he was hooked up on had to have some sort of metabolism boosting effect.

And that brought us to his greatest problem: He suffered from withdrawal. Ex might have been a drug able to pass through chemical tests undetected and had no visible side effects, but it was apparently meant to be taken regularly. The first visible symptoms hit two days after entering the underground, the whole day he was sweating profoundly and acting overly aggressive, and near morning, Pikachu on guard duty woke me up early, growling. At first, I didn't quite get why, but then I noticed his eyes were fixed on the charmeleon curled tight and shivering as if cold. I couldn't see Dante's face from the position I was in, so I stood up and walked around and saw a pair of wide open eyes, from what I understood, Dante hadn't slept at all.

This wouldn't do, and from there on out, every night I made Callidora put Dante to sleep with her sleep inducing pollen grains she was newly beginning to produce. I knew these were non-addictive, and a regular dosage of them could help Dante get much needed sleep. Unfortunately, there was nothing else I could do for his day time symptoms, but at least I was always keeping him busy with regular exercise, keeping his body on the verge of exhaustion so he wouldn't concentrate much on his need for drugs, and Dante on his part was doing his best by giving all of his focus to his training. Maybe I could have dropped Dante off at a pokecenter before entering the underground, in fact, I should have, but I highly doubted they could do anything I couldn't; ex was an unknown drug, making treatment risky, and Bill had told me he had made a detailed blood analysis of us all while we were with him but hadn't mentioned any sort of abnormality in Dante's, meaning he could detect nothing - he was not one to shut up about it if he had found something. I was willing to bet a chemical compound able to slip under Bill's advanced machinery would pass through any pokecenter's blood test undetected, meaning this intense training right now was the best and only treatment I could think of for Dante. At least his nights were peaceful thanks to Callidora.

Speaking of Callidora, she was growing magnificently. She was physically much larger since I saw her for the first time a month ago with Melanie, her bud's color was lively, vibrant, and now secreted various pollen grains, a sign she had entered a growth spurt. Previously all she had as means of attack were her toxic fangs, extendable vines, and the seeds she launched, but now the powdery substances from her bud introduced the possibility of exciting, deeper strategies. I knew some variant of her pollen could be used to put opponents to sleep, and after some self-experimenting, I noticed another type of her pollen numbed my hand, that type likely paralyzed the nerves. She still couldn't secrete the poisonous ones that were the signature ability of the venusaur line, but it didn't matter, her growth in such short time pleased me greatly, there was yet time for new abilities to come and go, I was in this for the long haul. After teaching her the basics of effectively using her powder - using the sleep inducing ones on larger, stronger pokemon and the paralyzing ones on the faster, glass cannons like Pikachu - she became easily my best fighter at mid-range combat.

She still had shortcomings though, mainly her aim. Without the aid of a trick room, there was no way of her hitting Pikachu at a distance whom I usually made her spar against. Deeming Pikachu too fast, I once tried Dante, but even he managed to evade most of the bullet and leech seeds she was sending. She had a crippling weakness against long distanced attacks like Dante's flames or Pikachu's thunder, I currently had no idea how to overcome it, she had no talent when it came to shooting accurately. Although annoying, this didn't bother me too much, if there was a thing like a single mon with no flaws, there wouldn't be a need for a team, which on an unrelated note I was sure would actually please Pikachu immensely.

These days Pikachu was mostly grumpy, he disliked the need for journeying together, he had gotten too used to it being just me and him. There was also the fact that he had become slightly alienated in the team; the trio Dante, Paul, and Callidora had gotten closer recently, Callidora helping Dante rest every night had put her more at ease next to him. The three pokemon's closeness didn't really surprise me, their typing had a synergy between each other, grass fire water cores were most popularly used in the competitive arena after all. If Dante and Paul weren't so useless in battle I would even consider a strategy based on them to counter Surge's team, but no, currently the only one who could hold her own was Callidora in that group. That being said, Pikachu was still my heaviest hitter.

Pikachu's mastery over his static fur was increasing, and I was turning the defensive strategy we once used, making contact to paralyze and then dodging, into a more offensive one, much to his liking. He always enjoyed getting close to his targets, which I repeatedly found odd for a supposedly frail pokemon, but his way above average bulk at least justified his inclination. Our new tactic was him charging himself, fully activating his fur's static electricity, and then just crashing on to the opponent. It was more like a high voltage tackle, a "volt tackle" we called this move, and it was great because it not only suited my Pikachu's physical nature but was also unexpected; nobody would guess such a high power attack coming from a mere pikachu. We only tested it against Callidora, who was resistant to electricity, but the sheer force the attack generated pushed even her back. The downfall was the energy needed to boost his speed and charge his fur left him exhausted and vulnerable, and when hitting a heavy pokemon like my growing ivysaur, I could sense there was some recoil damage Pikachu was trying to mask. But overall there was nothing we couldn't fix by applying more training.

I too was almost as exhausted as my pokemon during their training sessions. I had to carefully keep watch over the mock fights between Dante and my persian to avoid the feral cat injuring my charmeleon seriously. The Callidora-Pikachu duo were also stressful to keep under control, their battles tended to escalate until the other members joined in and forced Pikachu to retreat; aside from the poochyena, the others sided more with my ivysaur than Pikachu. I usually let this happen to an extent, I wouldn't tolerate bullying, but Pikachu needed to know just because he was my first and arguably best pokemon, he wasn't the leader. Also, it made good exercise for situations where he would be outnumbered. I sometimes tried grouping my other pokemon against a single one aside from Pikachu, but due to the slowbro ivysaur charmeleon core never really going full out against each other and Pikachu's usual unwillingness to cooperate, those sessions never went well.

Aside from training my pokemon and constantly working my brain to find a victory plan against Surge, I also had to deal with cooking, healing, and grooming. With different types in my team, I had to prepare different meals; Callidora was strictly on a vegetative and water based diet, the poochyena, persian, and Dante only ate meat, and Paul and Pikachu had pretty much no reservations when it came to food. I never gave them anything fattening or without nutritional value, but delicate meals required time to prepare. My schedule was constantly busy, I was the earliest one to wake up and the latest one to sleep, and my attention had to spread over each of them accordingly.

I might have not managed all of this if I was the same trainer from months ago in Pallet, but the constant movement I was in had kept me in top shape. I had never flown or ported since the beginning of my journey, my travelling had always been on either bike or foot and many times through rough terrain; off routes, through forests, or in caves. Two gym victories had rewarded me with an enough amount of cash that I could afford the best in meals, and as a result my body had grown into more athletic proportions. I was never really scrawny, there were mandatory physical tests in training school we had to take, ones impossible for not-in-shape prospective trainers to pass, but now I was downright muscular. Not too bulky, a lean and toned body instead, and flexible.

The only time I could relatively relax was after me and my team's late night training with Paul. I didn't bother training Paul physically, him walking the underground and trying to keep pace with us was taxing enough, but before dinner time, I made him try breaking through the entire team's mental defenses, an exercise I had overlooked since I had traded my butterfree. Paul's mental probing was of course much more intense, and often left headaches on us, but this was absolutely necessary. Psychic types were the offensively most dangerous pokemon, and when trained, they were near unbeatable, able to predict attacks, plant future suggestions, create confusions, or outright wipe one's mental state. Pikachu was the best at defending against him, followed by Dante, but my persian and Callidora had outright problems. Then again, one was a wild mon with no experience in the area whatsoever and the other a part poison type, holding mental barriers was not their kind's strong suit.

I thought I fared better in this task than my pokemon, naturally I too tested myself against Paul's mind. He never could dwell deep in my head, but I believed that was a sign of Paul's ineptitude rather than my own strength, he really was offensively below average. I did like having Paul on the team though, even if there was no sign of any improvement from him, he was a semi defensive pokemon with an unusual trick up his sleeve, a good support. I even sometimes made him build rooms so the others could practice in them, I wanted them to be ready in case the same strategy was used against us.

After everyone had eaten and we were done practicing against Paul, I would check my pokedex for any news of interest. Thanks to a useful extension cord gifted to me by Bill before departure, my pokedex was now never out of battery. When I was low on charge, all I had to do was plug the cable and make Pikachu bite on the other end, and the device would quickly reach full power again. A slightly demeaning task for a trained starter, but Pikachu didn't seem to mind.

According to what I read, the two snorlax were spotted last heading southwest, in between Lavender and Saffron. Bruno was still on the hunt, but rangers suspected the danger Saffron was in over, the city gates would stay closed for a while as a precaution, but were likely to be opened in a week. There was a small complaining article criticizing the overreaction of shutting the doors of the largest city in Kanto and how this had affected the economy, but I dismissed it quickly. Whenever a natural danger of sorts would loom near, the league always paid for the extra fees needed for businesses to transfer goods via porting and shadowing so the gates could stay closed. The alternative would be otherwise catastrophic, I shuddered at the thought of two wild snorlax making their way in to Saffron.

Unfortunately, the league offered no such compensation for travelers as myself, Saffron was still shut to the likes of us, making the underground journey I was having still necessary. But even if this trip wasn't the shortest way to my battle for a third badge, I admitted I might still have undertaken it. Multiple tabloid sites were reporting of the crazy organization ongoing for the party Obadiah Silph was hosting, and I was curious myself if the rockets were indeed planning something to sabotage it. As every day passed and brought us closer to said date, I felt the invitation letter in my bag grow heavier and heavier.

There was some small gossip about who would replace Will of the Elite Four, who had officially resigned from the position a few days back due to familial reasons, but otherwise, well, everyone was still talking about me. After DJ Ben's broadcast, a reliable battle commentator had taken it upon himself to explain both strategies I had used during my gym battles, parafusion and trick room, to the common viewers, providing extensive commentary and praising my genius on such choices.

As always, public opinion on me had suddenly divided. Once my plans were explained in detail, like a magician whose trick had been exposed, the shock value of a pikachu charging an onix or an ivysaur ripping a starmie to shreds also lessened, and brought some questions of morals and ethics, which were hard not to scoff at. But nevertheless, I was remarked by the extent people would go at to gain some more information on a young - I hated the word - celebrity like myself.

Reporters from a site called "All About That Trainer" had apparently gone to Pallet to shed some light on the mysteries surrounding me, the article read: _"...Though we've interviewed every person in Pallet Town to gain some insight on the suddenly infamous young trainer known only as Red, it surprised us that no one was willing to speak up - this reporter thinks that Trainer Red may be more influential and nefarious than initially thought, without doubt he has some sort of hold on the citizens of this sleepy town famous for hosting the Oak household. We have tried reaching Professor Samuel Oak on the matter of course, but he has stated he was too busy..."_

I snorted, whoever these reporters were, they were obviously not that good at their job. Pallet wasn't like Viridian or Goldenrod, it was a small town with a tight community. Although I wasn't the most liked child, neighbors got along with my mother just fine, and no one in such a closely knitted circle would betray the privacy they knew me and my mother valued so much. And not even in my wildest dreams would I expect the professor to give an interview to such a trash site. Nevertheless, I had never been so thankful for the league's trainer database that protected individual trainers' personal history, the media would never have their hands on my real name or who my mother was, last thing I wanted was to have them bother her. All the media had at the moment were my trainer's name and the town where my trainer's license had been issued, nothing much to go on.

Maybe influenced by DJ Ben, but another popular radio host from Goldenrod named Buena had decided to do short segments about me too. At the end of her show "Buena's Password", she would dedicate the last few minutes on interviewing nationwide famous trainers on if they had watched my battles and what their thoughts were. What surprised me more was that some of these trainers were actually willing.

" _A very, very interesting battler."_ was Trainer Naomi's comment. I knew Naomi was a young, at her mid to late twenties seven badger and wielded a very strong fire type core with her rapidash and ninetales. If I remembered correctly, she was from Cinnabar but had studied under Violet and Ecruteak City Gyms for her first two badges, both had taken a few years to earn. Her next badges were won through combat though, and she had held a steady, reliable pace of one badge per year. " _And either extremely smart or has been preparing for this for a long time despite his youth - it's not easy to come up with strategies like trick room without studying under gym tutelage which he has skipped. A better battler than I was at his age,"_ she admitted. " _But he is young, very young, no doubt he'll go far, but I don't think we can see him winning further badges at this pace... Don't get me wrong, he's definitely victory road material, I'll bet we can see him in the next championship - no, not this one, the following one."_

 _Well, fair commentary,_ I thought. _Except missed the mark with which championship I am aiming for._ My interest unwillingly peaked, I next clicked on the link which featured Trainer Vincent, a trainer with ten badges who had gone through victory road twice but lost consequently against the Elite Four, known best for his GyaraVire core.

 _"He's doing everything wrong. Everything. I don't understand why he is so hyped, his mind gets fixed on one strategy and follows it no matter the cost. I can't even begin to- look, everybody in the business knows, you don't get physical with an onix, much less with a pikachu! And that poor slowbro of his... Roulette is no joke, that pokemon could almost die. Granted, trick room is a good strategy against Misty, I'll give him that, but you want to set it up with a bronzong or porygon-z, a slowbro is simply a mismatch against a starmie. From what I can tell, he's quite the one-dimensional trainer who has relied on nothing but luck and leaders' underestimation so far, there's no way he'll make it to v-road."_

I couldn't help but smile at his online raging. _Maybe there's a reason why you're almost forty and still haven't gotten past through one of the four Vincent. Lack of imagination._ Lastly, I clicked on Trainer Alexa, a five badger and one of the few trainers who didn't hide her real name - I believed it was Alexandra Wiseman or something - and came from a background similar to Blue's. Her grandfather was the founder of a popular chain of department stores with direct ties to the Devon Corporation in Hoenn, which made her family one of the richest in Indigo. As if her familial status wasn't enough, she had proved herself a capable trainer at a very young age, in fact it was her record that I had broken. Only three years older than me and Blue, after studying for half a year under Jasmine of Olivine for her first badge, she had repeatedly won her next four in a quick two years. I knew she had a strange combination of a mainly fairy team backed up with a SkarmBliss core, and I admitted curiosity in what this trainer who used mainly defensive tactics in her battles had to say about me.

 _"_ _Look, we can argue whether he's a genius, or a lucky, stubborn idiot all day and not reach a conclusion - the truth is the kid has two badges in less than half a year's time, all by combat. That's unheard of and deserves appreciation. My problem is different: His attitude. I still remember the stone-cold face he had when he sent his slowbro to near death - you'll say it was his game face but that fight was the real deal, he could have lost a mon right there and then. And the way he treats his fans, even leaders themselves - it seems he doesn't respect them at all. Now I may be wrong about him, but it's not like he's going to come up and give an interview, introduce himself, is he?"_ She took a deep breath before continuing. " _Look, all I'm saying is, what we do, it's important. Us young trainers represent something: The future of this country. I think anyone who denies that this Red, in a couple years, will be at least leader level is biased and crazy, he has such obvious talent. But I'm not sure if I would want a leader, or a four, or, heh, let's go crazy, a champion like him. What would this country do with a leader who inspires nothing but stoic arrogance in the people?_ _"_

It appeared that Trainer Alexa was also an idealist like Blue who gave too much thought on what the 'ordinary' would think of; what was it with the elite families of this country breaking stereotype and actually caring? Her video was a total waste of my time and also the last one I had watched before deciding it was time to sleep. Tomorrow would once again be a very tiring day after all.

))(())((

It took twenty-two days to reach route K06 and exit the underground, two more days than I had estimated. That was mainly because of Paul, but I didn't blame him, the extra days of training did us good. I was fairly confident in my team now, even the persian was beginning to learn and obey some words, and the poochyena pup had no problems with simple commands like "Sit". There was the inkling of a strategy forming up in my mind against Surge, though it mainly depended on which three pokemon he would choose for battle.

The underground's exit was closer to Vermilion's northern gate than I had initially thought, so it only took an hour's journey to reach it. Meanwhile, it was only Pikachu and me since a long time, the others were in their balls once again, and Pikachu couldn't be more than happy about it. I still didn't know if these joint training sessions had done any good, as far as I could tell, aside from a slight friendship brewing between Callidora and Dante, the team had many inner problems that needed worked out. During our journey, almost every three days a major group fight had happened, spearheaded usually by Callidora and Pikachu. The power struggle between my two best pokemon disturbed me, but at least experience showed me when it truly mattered, these two were capable of working together, like with our time against the rockets; and when it was just us three, they did behave themselves and tolerate each other's presence. But I really didn't know if their partnership extended only to life and death situations, and if they would be capable of cooperating against Surge.

I walked past the stammering idiot of a guard who handed me back my trainer's ID. "You- yo- you're Trainer Red!" I heard him speak behind me. Not minding him, Pikachu and I kept going. "Wait, wait! Are you here to challenge Surge? Are you?" I ignored the excitement in his voice, but his question did worm his way in to my head.

I didn't really know, was I? Despite our twenty-two day long intense workout, never had I been less prepared to face a gym. Even though I would probably still have at least a week's more time until an opening in Surge's schedule would show up, that extra amount of time for training might still not do. Saffron's gates were still shut, so it had made sense for me to not waste time and journey here, but if I was being honest with myself, the secondary reason for me being in Vermilion was peaking my curiosity more and more; the media's interest on this gathering of the wealthiest and most influential families of Indigo on the S.S. Anne was growing every day, and now the rumors had updated from tabloid gossip to actual news. Were the rockets really crazy enough to crash this party? I would learn the truth in four days' time, when the party was due.

The final call of the officer I left behind interrupted my thoughts. Since the distance between us had grown, he shouted the words loud and clear, free for all to hear. "Welcome to Vermilion City!"

 _Welcome, indeed._

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **So, almost a month of no updates, buuuut a double chapter and editing all the previous chapters free of grammar mistakes (NOTHING story-wise has changed, only the punctuation and spelling errors). Not a bad trade I think.**

 **SkarmBliss in the games stands short for a skarmory-blissey core, which if you've played pokemon competitively the first two generations, is also known as the most annoying spawn duo of Satan birthed in hell and released upon our world to agonize those who wish more from pokemon battling than toxic substitute protect with the best def. and spdef. walls in the games. No, I don't have trauma, why do you ask? (Nowadays we have toxapex, which in a sense proves we should never say never, because I never thought I'd hate any pokemon more than blissey and skarmory, but what do you know? A poison water dual type with regenarator and above 100 in defensive stats each that has access to haze, tspikes, and recovery? Congrats Gamefreak!)**

 **GyaraVire, similarly named, is a gyarados-electrivire core where you'll switch an electrivire to an upcoming electric attack on your gyarados, get the speed boost, eliminate all opposing pokemon that counter your gyarados, and then die to let your gyarados set up some dds and wreck havoc. Was a pretty popular strategy when I played competitive during the gen 4-5 days, don't know how viable it is now.**

 **Next update: Mid-April, another late update, but unfortunately midterm season has come upon me.**


	15. Chapter 12: All Aboard the Hype

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER TWELVE

All Aboard The Hype:

The battlefield was neither the plain rectangular arena of Brock's, nor Misty's floating platform centered in a swimming pool. For starters, this area was much, much larger than those gyms', so much that the trainers were stationed in observatory decks above the field giving them a clearer view of the battle, and a giant video screen focusing on different parts of the arena was attached to the ceiling so that the spectators could divide their attention between different aspects of the battle. Furthermore, instead of a man made, built arena, this gym featured part of a larger forest as its designated battlefield. Stone and marble were replaced by earth and dirt, the floor was not even with hedges and mounds serving as obstacles, and thick trees sometimes covered the pokemon from sight. There were clearings suitable for large scale battles, and also high tree tops from where surprise attacks could be dropped, covering flying pokemon from sight.

After arriving to the city and checking in a motel for a long-deserved shower, Pikachu and I made our way to Vermilion Gym, where I had planned to register for a battle. I changed my mind once I had realized my visit coincided with a combat challenge scheduled for today, and decided on instead buying a last minute, overpriced ticket for one of the worst spectator seats possible. Truth be told, I didn't know much about Surge's battling style, since I had never planned on battling him, I hadn't bothered myself with watching his videos. Now that the chance to watch him live was presented, I didn't want to miss it.

The challenger was a four badger, a Trainer Owen, and obviously familiar with team battles. His team of swampert, torkoal, and torterra was expertly picked; not only would the two ground types be immune to Surge's electrical attacks, by utilizing dual types, the trainer also presented a fire water grass core team, perfect synergy between teammates. As a bonus, a fire type would also prove incredibly useful in such an easily burnable arena.

To oppose this team, Surge had sent out his electrode, ampharos, and raichu. Honestly, there were only a few, very weak strategies I could think of that would help Surge win here, his team was too type disadvantaged in my opinion. Then again, the gym leader was a decorated army soldier, so I was curious what cards he was no doubt hiding under his sleeve.

As both teams were beginning to stretch out strategically, one thing I noticed was Surge not actively ordering his team, they were following a previously practiced drill. What Surge was doing instead was eyeing his opponent with his one good eye behind the shades he wore; people said he never took them out even indoors in case another attack similar to the stray nidoqueen dart would hit him.

 _He's an army guy, he has probably trained his team for multiple scenarios. Most likely his pokemon are following one of those plans now, and meanwhile, he's checking his opponent's plays,_ I thought. If true, this was actually valuable information I could use in my battle against him. I squinted my eyes and focused more on how his pokemon were acting.

Due to a previously mentioned rule, all spectators were keeping conversation and cheers to a minimum. Pokemon were more likely to be distracted in team battles than in singles, so the crowd was watching this match more respectfully in silence. I was half sure that even if they hadn't been warned by a gym aide they would still be quiet, this type of a match was more like a chess play between two human opponents, where the pokemon pieces placed could be critical and determine the outcome, rather than the all-out ultimate fighting accustomed to in single battles. I realized Trainer Owen's swampert had disappeared out of sight, a large hole in the dirt was visible, most likely the swampert had dug underground. The torkoal and torterra seemed to be doing nothing, but I could see the torterra slightly shaking on its feet. If I had to guess, I would say it was planting small leech seed traps. Apparently, Trainer Owen's plan was a more defensive one, hoping to draw Surge in and then surprise his pokemon with a hidden swampert and seeds, backing his attacks up with the torkoal's stored flames.

Efficient, smart, and without underestimation of his opponent, I liked this plan. I moved my eyes towards Surge's pokemon. Similar to Owen, Surge's pokemon were also split in a two to one ratio, his raichu Ira was moving quickly but quietly alone to the left side of the arena, and his electrode Invidia and ampharos Gullia were climbing one of the larger mounds in a central clearing. Because of the sheer size of the uneven area, the two teams hadn't seen each other yet, but once the electrode ampharos duo made it up, they would most definitely be spotted by Owen and his team.

 _Why does he want to- Oh. Ohhh. I see._

I now had a faint understanding on why Surge's team was split that way, and tried to see if so did Owen. He was either a very good actor, or he truly had no idea what was coming for him. In any case, he and his team saw Gullia and Invidia on higher ground, and in predictable fashion, perhaps too confident in his torkoal and torterra's defensive power, Owen decided to reveal one of his aces too quickly. The terrain under the electrode and ampharos trembled, and out came two strong, meaty hands, attempting to pull the two pokemon underground to the dugout tunnels where the swampert would have the advantage.

It worked partially.

The air crackled, and a violet, blueish light surrounded the electrode's spherical body as an electromagnetic field lifted the electrode up into the air. It didn't raise high, but was enough to avoid the swampert's grasp. The ampharos however was not so lucky and was forced to be pulled down with a cry. Owen allowed a victorious smile form on his face, one of Surge's team was down, an ampharos had no chance of winning a physical contest against a swampert.

Normally.

A very white, bright flash of light shined out of the hole's entrance, and the unmistakable cry of a swampert was heard. Owen watched in disbelief as Surge's ampharos slowly crawled out, shaken but otherwise fine. Seeing its teammate safe, the electrode dove in to the hole, after the swampert.

Boom.

I grimaced as I heard the sound, and Owen's face turned ash white. Blood poured out of the dirt like a geyser, showering Gullia the ampharos in pieces of swampert and electrode alike as if a forgotten god of war. People said Surge kept a number of electrodes ready, each named the same, every single one of them trained as well as the last, and he only deployed their explosive power on the worthiest of opponents. Surge was in his own way congratulating Trainer Owen in his choice of team and strategy by showing him a taste of his most powerful arsenal, a general saluting and praising his rival's strength by assuring mutual destruction.

I doubted Owen saw it the same way.

Shocked by the loss of his pokemon, and missing the obvious one sign of his defeat and how this had happened, it would have been better for him if he had signaled retreat, but no, pain and loss and anger clouded his mind, he was now out for blood, he would hurt Surge for taking a valued member from him. He signaled a command, and the torkoal spit his flames in direction of the ampharos, whereas the torterra lifted its forelegs and pounded at the earth in a powerful step. The ground cracked and followed a faultline, and by the swampert's digging and the electrode's explosion weakened earth collapsed on itself right under the ampharos. With a second cry the ampharos was once again buried underground, but this time the torkoal's flames too had caught up. The nearby trees caught ablaze, large burning branches fell on top of where Gullia was last seen, and the fire surrounding the area spread.

It took a full minute of burning for Owen to be satisfied, and he finally glanced up at his opponent with a vengeful face, aiming to see the same hurt Surge had caused now on his face.

To his surprise, he found none.

The reason became clear to him as part of the collapsed earth moved, and Gullia the ampharos dug herself out from all the piles of burning logs and dirt with another cry. She was injured of course, her tail looked broken and her crown jewel was cracked, but considering the attack was meant to be fatal, and normally should have been, she looked just fine.

And now it was Surge's time for offense.

With Owen's hasty revenge plan, the torterra had caused a shift in the ground with its multidirectional attack, burying his carefully hidden seeds too deep underground, rendering them ineffective. The loss of this huge defensive advantage marked the perfect time for Ira the raichu to remind herself, as she could now charge towards the torkoal and torterra unafraid. At the same time from a distance, Gullia the ampharos let loose a thunderbolt. Lightning traveled through the air faster than the human eye could track to hit... Ira the raichu's tail.

 _That torkoal is dead._

A raichu's tail acted similar to a marowak's bone, it served as a lightning rod. Except raichu themselves were electric types, their bodies effectively used this sudden burst of energy to channel out even greater voltages of thunder, this ability was one its species' signature traits. Owen's torkoal could definitely tank lightning from a raichu, it was bulky enough to withstand one attack until the torterra could come up with a counter measure; but a gym leader's signature pokemon's high voltage attack output increased by another electric pokemon of said leader's, yeah, no pokemon could measure up to that. A bright flash surrounded Ira, and a powerful surge of electricity flowed through her entire body, unleashing itself out in a direction of the raichu's choosing. Owen's torkoal didn't stand a chance, the coal pokemon fried inside out and dropped dead.

I could see from the blank expression on Owen's face he was in a psychological shock, his two pokemon were killed despite all the advantages they had against Surge's team. Perhaps if he were facing another leader, someone like Brock, he would be allowed a paused moment to recollect his thoughts, to signal his defeat and save the life of his last pokemon, or even plan some sort of comeback, his torterra was still uninjured and had the type advantage after all. But no, he was up against Surge, an elite soldier who dealt death in the most efficient way and did not bother with small things like mercy.

Ira the raichu attacked the torterra savagely, now that the opponent was a ground type, her attacks were physical instead of elemental. The torterra roared towards its trainer in pain and tried shaking off its assailant, but Ira was too well trained, jumping around, slashing with her tail and biting down with her teeth. The physical battle was of course an unequal one, a torterra would always have the upper hand, but Ira's attacks were mostly a distraction from the real threat, she was mainly giving a helping hand to her ally Gullia by diverting the torterra's attention. Not so much time later, climbing down the hill she was on, the ampharos made its way towards the two battling pokemon, and bowed her head, releasing from her jewel the signal beam most commonly associated with bug types, a corrosive, acrid ray that hit grass pokemon especially hard. The flashing light had a secondary effect of confusing the mind, so I wasn't surprised when the torterra kept missing on stomping the running around raichu.

It all ended relatively quickly though, Gullia's beam was burning the torterra from the outside, and Ira was bleeding it profoundly. Before its trainer could come to his senses, the continent pokemon fell on its knees to draw its last breath.

"Trainer Owen has lost the challenge!"

I shook my head in sympathy with the trainer. The tactic - oh yes, there was one - Surge had used was actually a common one in team battles, albeit not accustomed to be seen from an electrode, which explained why Owen hadn't caught up on it. What his electrode Invidia had did just before rising up in the air was what we called in the games as "screen setting". A strategy mostly seen in bulky electric or psychic types, the pokemon would set up either an electromagnetically or a psionic powered invisible shield around itself and nearby teammates, capable of tanking both physical and elemental attacks. With the ampharos covered in this defensive cloak, it was easy for her to tank the swampert's initial attack and surprise it by a blinding flash of her powerful tail glow. The greatest advantage of the screen was it lasted even after the pokemon who cast it was taken out, it only dissolved with time. So albeit to a lesser extent, Gullia the ampharos was able to take both the torkoal's flames and the torterra's earthquake.

Surge had played his opponent perfectly. He knew he could never face the prepared torterra and torkoal head on, so he had eliminated the third-party member in a suicide attack to shake their trainer, taunting him to give up his defensive advantage, and by utilizing the raichu only when she was needed, he had pitted a healthy, fresh pokemon with extra charge against the torkoal.

I nudged Pikachu on my lap gently to point at the giant screen in front of me that showed the picture of Lt. Surge live. "You see why I didn't want to battle against him?" I asked.

My fearless pikachu stood silent and nodded. With his tall, athletic built, silent demeanor mimicking my own, and his team full of professional killer mons, the Lieutenant was by far the most ruthless leader I had ever seen. His pokemon's cooperative skills were unparalleled, their strength was far superior to mine. Seeing him, watching him live had cast in me emotions I hadn't really felt in ever. I was in awe by him, his confidence, his leadership. My hesitation in coming here was wiped clean, the uneasiness I felt about going against him was erased. The fires of the challenge were lit.

I couldn't wait to face him.

I couldn't wait to defeat him.

))(())((

Before Arceusm, to the ancient Pewterians, the mountains were their gods. They birthed both the unconquerable beasts of the wild and the valuable resources necessary for the people to prosper, and hence they were made gods. Viridian Forest acted a similar role to the Viridianians, and for the Ceruleanians it was the rivers. The Fuchsians, unconquerable on land, feared the ocean, so their god was Lugia, a sea beast. For Cinnabarians it was their island volcano, for Celadonians, first to invent written words, it was the Unown, and for the Saffronians it was always their royal king and queen who were worshiped as deities.

There was a pattern here even the least bright could recognize: All these people living centuries ago, their gods had been the things they had feared or valued the most. And this rule did not only apply in Kanto, everywhere on the world, in Johto, Hoenn, or Kalos, wherever you looked, you would see humanity's ancestors making gods out of their own shortcomings.

So, what did that tell about the old Vermilionians if I were to say they had _no_ god?

The founders of the city today called Vermilion had a different origin story compared to the rest of the mainland city. They were not refugees from the wild finding an environmentally safe soft, they were not farmers who had settled down from a gatherer-hunter lifestyle after agricultural improvements, no. What the first Vermilionians were was, to put it kindly, scavengers, savages, rapists, and scum, overall the worst people humanity had to offer.

To understand Vermilion City's history, one needed to know about the days before the unification of Kanto and the relationships between the mainland cities, of course in those days, they were the mainland kingdoms. Saffron and Fuchsia were by far the two oldest, most powerful kingdoms, so it was mostly these two that were at dispute with each other. Pewter was too isolated, Cerulean was limited by the same countless twisting rivers surrounding and protecting her, and Celadon was mostly ignored; a small kingdom where the laws were less sensitive, no kingdom could afford losing the profits from the shady businesses made there. Left alone, Viridian had found the chance to grow and prosper, especially after implementing the trainer system.

One could argue the name Vermilion stood at first for a people instead of a location. In the old days, exile was a worse punishment than death, and also less expensive. If any committed an unforgivable crime within city limits, simply throwing them out of the city walls to the wild costed less than paying executioners, and usually resulted in the same end for the convict. But the situation began changing after Saffron exiled a group of war criminals. Having their weapons, armor, and clothes taken from these men did nothing, acting like the seasoned warriors they were, they banded up and fought bare handed against the wild. Theirs was an epic of survival, there was no chance of them lasting long, there was no fort for them to give their last stand. They just wandered in the wild, each night losing more of their number in the battle against the beasts, each day cannibalizing their dead to avoid starvation.

Eventually they would all die, if luck and their travels had not brought them to a second exiled group from Cerulean. These were boat builders, and their crime was disrespecting the river gods and priests, and were hence sentenced their punishment. The two groups quickly worked out an arrangement, the Saffronians knew how to protect themselves whereas the Ceruleanians could offer a means of safety. Camping out for Arceus knows how many nights, the Cerulean people built a large ship while the Saffronians defended them from the wild pokemon. At the end, both groups boarded the ship and sailed on shallow waters, away from the land beasts and depth dwelling, more dangerous water pokemon.

But a ship could only last so long on water, and soon they understood they needed to dock for repairs. Deciding gathering numbers was their only chance of survival against both the wild and the kingdoms that had declared them criminals, they sought out other exiled convicts from other cities. Viridianian pokemon trainers, weapons crafters from Pewter, toxin brewers of Fuchsia, their merry brand of criminals grew and grew. They had a rule of only admitting those useful to their company, they slaughtered those they did not need. Soon their numbers were too many, and more boats were needed, which would eventually lead to confronting the Ceruleanians who ruled the inland waters. Fearing this, their boat builders began constructing wider, sturdier ships, more suited for open waters than rivers and lakes.

And thus were the Vermilion pirates born. Scavengers of the worst kind, they raided the mainland cities, stealing goods and women, storing their spoils in a fortress they had built in a hidden bay, exchanging them for gold in Celadon. Their greatest advantage was their unchallenged rule over the ocean, they had gained experience against the wild in fending off sharpedo and gyarados, and the human kingdoms had no chance against them on open waters; the strongest coastal city of Fuchsia had a superstitious fear when it came to the sea, and the fast but light boats of Cerulean couldn't cope up with the larger ships of the ocean. Having had enough, twice Saffron and Fuchsia allied up to scout and destroy the pirates' fortress city on land, twice they failed, the Pewterian exiled masons had built an impenetrable defensive fort on the grounds of today's Vermilion City.

Saffron and Fuchsia's mistake was that they were storming the Vermilionians with manpower, but the game was changing. Leonal Oak was now appointed chief in Viridian, and he knew acquiring Vermilion would be the most strategic first step in making his dream of a unified Kanto a reality. If he could gain the loyalty of these experienced sea dwellers, he could claim all their resources for his cause.

So, he proceeded with the only way he knew these pirates would follow him, he made them bow through force. Viridian was never the largest nor strongest kingdom, but they were the best in training pokemon, a then relatively newly established concept, and Leonal Oak himself could effectively use six beasts at once. The fortress that had stood tall against the long sieges of Saffron and Fuchsia fell quickly enough. Unable to cope with the trained flyers dropping down on them from above, the controlled fires burning their resources, the sturdy rocks hurled at their gates, and their frozen still ships, these opportunistic men of fortune decided joining Leonal would be in their best interest, and hence their kingdom of villainy was the first to become a city of Kanto.

Today of course you wouldn't see the likes of evil the old Vermilionions committed in their heirs, Vermilion City was now a peaceful, happy city. The only two things the people had inherited from their vicious forefathers was the remains of the old fortress located east to the city, and the love they still felt towards the sea, the only home their ancestors had truly felt welcomed. Most of Indigo's international commerce flowed through this port, with ships from Kalos, Hoenn, and Sinnoh docking to trade goods. One was more likely to hear foreigners here than any other city in Indigo, and the league had a much stricter approach in protecting this city than the others; a good half of Indigo's naval power was always stationed here, so it wasn't out of ordinary to run into sailors in their military uniforms on the streets accompanied by their companion pokemon. And since most of these sailors had either water or electric pokemon with them - the former advantageous in case of a friendly ship sinking and the latter when confronted against enemy water types -, Pikachu and I didn't stand out as much as we did in Cerulean, once I tightened and pulled my cap down, no one was able to recognize me.

After watching Surge live, I had decided against scheduling a challenge without coming up with a more solid plan against him first. On one hand, most of his team's strength seemed to come from prepared, practiced strategies, I hadn't seen Surge himself issue a single command the entire battle, it was all his pokemon alone. If I could counter his team's initial tactics, I suspected they might stumble and he would be forced to think on his feet and give orders, putting us on equal grounds. I was fairly confident I could catch his first opening moves, I had after all sensed what his plan with his electrode was the moment it had split away with the ampharos; there were only so many tactics these two combination of pokemon could work, and unlike Trainer Owen, I knew and could recognize most of them. On the other hand, there was no guarantee he would lead with the same trio against me, and I myself wasn't even sure which trio I was going to put against him. Callidora and Pikachu were a given, as my two best pokemon, despite the disagreements they had, I hoped they would at least cooperate during an important match.

But I lacked a strong third pokemon. Dante could prove useful in a forest arena, but he was still too weak. As was Paul, I would never dare put him up against the powerful thunderbolts Surge's team sent, he would die before setting up a room. Which left me with my persian, Silk. She was actually quite strong and could potentially last more than a few minutes against Surge. If only she obeyed me more and didn't try escaping me every time she was let out, for some inexplicably frustrating reason, I sucked at gaining the loyalty of strong wild pokemon, a fact I would admit to no one but myself.

I sighed as I tried not tripping over Pikachu who was making a game out of walking between my legs every time I took a step. I pulled his tail sharply as we stood in front of a shop that read clearly on front "No pokemon allowed!". He grunted but obeyed, and lied on his belly next to the shop's door.

I entered through and was greeted by the hopeful looks of the only salesperson on duty, but he ended up rolling his eyes and returning behind the counter when he saw how I was dressed. I didn't really blame him, this was a high-end clothing shop for people with some serious bank, and in my jeans, red jacket and cap, I looked anything but the part. I too ignored him and wandered through the men's aisle of tuxedos and suits, not quite certainly sure of what I was supposed to do.

The truth was I hadn't forgotten the second challenge expecting me in Vermilion, namely the S.S. Anne event. And although I disliked dressing up and spending more than needed money on one-time usage clothes, even I admitted I couldn't attend a party with all of Indigo's one percent present in my usual day time attire, hence was the need for a suit. Earlier I had sold my poochyena to a pet shop, the shop owner had convinced me in allowing him to advertise the bite pokemon by using my name, as in "Trainer Red trained this pokemon!", in return for an above average pay. I allowed this one time cheapening of myself because this money would bank me enough for a good quality, rental suit, and I didn't want to spend my gym earnings on anything unrelated to my end goal.

So, it wasn't financial problems that led to my hesitation in the shop, it was more that I was out of my element. My eyes fixed on one suit and the accompanying necktie, I had never learned how to tie one, that was usually a ritual taught from father to-

I shook my head trying to clear myself from the unnecessary emotions, but I failed. I had never been someone who felt alone, yes, I mostly was, but I had never _felt_ it. My mother had done her best in raising me on her own, and I could never love her any more than I did now for that, but during my school years, I was unavoidably confronted with the fact there was some small, subtle part of my education that was lacking. I would never describe myself as ungrateful for what I had with my mother, but I would be lying that it didn't slightly sting when most fathers were outside school waiting to pick up their children and I had to walk my way home alone. Or when someone was showing off a watch their father had gifted them for their birthday. Or during something small like when I had passed by a child and father playing ball.

Or when during graduation when everyone was wearing a suit and necktie tied neatly, and I had avoided the problem with a bow-tie.

Trying to keep calm, I reached out and took out my dex, dialing my mother's number. It was an unspoken agreement between us not to make contact outside of necessity, I had grown into that age where I was beginning my career and independent life, and as a mother she could not help but respect that, but I suspected the real reason we never called each other was we were both trying to avoid the hurt. Despite all the bravado she put on, I knew she was never okay with me becoming a trainer, and perhaps some subconscious thought of me wanted to spare her the pain of reminding her what I had become.

Now however all of those excuses seemed silly as I was feeling hot and bothered, surrounded by all the suits and tuxes with their neckties looking over me as if they were mocking. The one thing about emotional outbursts was one never knew what would trigger them.

And the other was they were known to be calmed in presence of family.

"Hello?"

With one single word, _she_ had cleared all the depressive clouds in my mind. I realized my vision was going blurry and wiped my tears.

"Hi," I simply said, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Oh," she responded.

A minute of silence passed between us, each side trying to figure out what to say.

"I've been hearing about you a lot," she finally decided on. "I couldn't be prouder you know."

She meant it, she still disapproved of my career choice, but the feelings a mother felt towards her successful child were reigning supreme. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"I know," I simply said, which resulted in another prolonged silence.

"A... a suit," I finally muttered. "I need to rent a suit. And a tie. Any advice?"

"I see. Social gathering or career related meeting?"

"Social. I'm about to meet some people pretty high up the food chain," I joked, but couldn't help shake the thought, _why am I bragging to her?_

"Then ditch the suit. You wear a suit to work. If you're out there as yourself, you wear a tuxedo. And no necktie really works with a tux, grab a bow-tie. Simple design, everything else stands out as exaggerating." She paused before continuing. "I would suggest darker colors, but never entirely pitch black. Just choose what represents you the best, Red."

 _Red._

This was the first time my mother had referred to me in my trainer's name instead of given one.

"Will do," I managed before hanging up.

I walked towards the salesperson and presented him with both my trainer's ID and the invitation in my back pocket.

"In four days' time I will be attending a party hosted by _Obadiah Silph._ " I accentuated on the name and enjoyed the salesman's eyes widen in recognition. "And I've decided on renting a tux from this shop. I want something a shade lighter than black, but still dark. And a bow-tie that suits. Any suggestions?"

"Cer- eeh, certainly sir, of course!" He dropped a pen while searching for something on his desk. "If you'd please follow me..."

Half an hour later I walked out of the place with my wallet considerably lightened. The salesman had taken my motel address and guaranteed he would send the items a day before the event. Pikachu growled under me, annoyed at me spending so much time in there, but I ignored him and bent one knee down to reach his eye level and inspect him carefully.

"How long has it been since you've been properly groomed?" I seriously asked, enjoying the worried sparks flickering on his cheeks.

"Let's go." I stood up. "We have lots to prepare for."

))(())((

"Remember," I warned Pikachu for the thousandth time. "Behave."

He growled back nastily.

"Hey, I hate this as much as you do," I said. "But don't you want to know what the rockets are up to?"

That shut him up.

We walked down the pier leading to where the S.S. Anne was docked, and I had to admit I was extremely, extremely uncomfortable. This morning I had went to a barbershop for the night's occasion, and with my considerably long hair cut and missing the cap I had been wearing since my first day in Cerulean, I had never felt my face so unprotected and open to inspection. I almost felt as if the scar James' victreebel had left on my face was burning bright, acting like a neon sign in Celadon's rumored back alleys designed to reel in strangers.

All of it was just my imagination of course, and in truth, I probably looked good. The tux's dark jacket suited my toned body perfectly, and the slight hint of light gold color in my shirt was compatible with my companion Pikachu's bright fur. Disregarding his protests, I had made him go to a grooming salon, and his sleek and equally trimmed down fur now shined the most beautiful of yellow.

"ID and invitation, please," the trainer hired as security demanded. I checked the beheeyem drifting behind him with open curiosity as he inspected my credentials. Unova supported an entirely different ecosystem compared to the rest of the regions, the native pokemon species were endemic and entirely unique, and due to the conservative governmental laws and strict border control there, it wasn't every day you saw an Unovan pokemon. I could only recognize the funny looking, supposedly extraterrestrial pokemon thanks to daily studying the comprehensive pokedex Professor Oak had gifted me. _So old man Silph can even afford to pay for a security team that utilizes foreign pokemon,_ I thought. _There's no way anyone can get past. Mr. Silph clearly prioritizes the safety of his VIP guests', as he should._ The more I thought about it, the more ridiculous I found the rockets hitting this party, clearly Rocket Butch using the word Anne was nothing more than a coincidence.

"You are not Mr. Stein, Mr. Red?" the trainer asked, interrupting my thoughts. It took me a moment to understand he was referring to Bill.

"No, obviously not," I said trying to give my voice a more snobby, self-indulged tone. "I am here representing Bill." I especially emphasized on Bill, hoping that calling him by his more familiar nickname would prove I was close to him and it wasn't farfetched for me to attend in his stead.

The guard eyed me suspiciously, not exactly convinced, but I knew he couldn't afford directly confronting me and making a scene in case I truly was here to fill in for one of Mr. Silph's guests. In his hand, Bill's invitation card twitched, since he had scanned the letter with his dex he was sure it was genuine, but he was probably wondering if I had stolen it from its original intended. Then again, he had spoken as if he had heard of my name, so he could be thinking about what motive a newly famous trainer could have for boarding the ship and what potential harm I could cause. Ultimately though, he acted exactly how any hired help would act, he reached for a hidden earpiece with one hand and asked his superiors what to do.

"Sir? I have received a guest with an invitation addressed to Mr. William Stein and- No, no sir, he's not actually here..."

I grinned to myself, the reclusive lifestyle of Bill's was going to help me immensely. For this sort of crowd, social status was all that mattered, and what an impression would it leave when someone like Bill, one of Indigo's smartest and richest who had always shunned from this sort of gatherings, decided to attend a party hosted by Obadiah Silph. I was sure if even Silph would be disappointed that Bill himself didn't actually show up, he would still be delighted in having the person who came on his behalf, especially if that said someone was a hot topic nowadays.

"No sir. A trainer. Trainer Red." I noticed him wincing as if suddenly someone had shouted loudly to his ear. "Yes, sir, as far as I can understand, he is _the_ Trainer Red," he said while looking at Pikachu. "I understand sir. Immediately sir." He dropped his hand from his ear and addressed me again, this time with a smile. "Apologies for the delay, Mr. Red. Do please climb aboard, and I wish you a pleasant evening."

Nodding my head towards him, I passed by and entered through the wide open hatch door to board the S.S. Anne. After a few small steps of stairs, Pikachu and I finally climbed up out to the ship's deck, and before I could even take in my surroundings, a young man in his thirties appeared out of nowhere.

"Trainer Red! An honor to meet you, big fan of your work!" A wide grin on his cleanly shaven face and a slight twinkle in his eyes showed he was sincere. "And this must be the world's most famous pikachu. Hello to you, sir," he said towards Pikachu.

I wasn't sure who this person was, but he had one of those auras that made people instantly warm up to him, similar to Blue's, and I did appreciate he had addressed Pikachu separately and greeted him properly. I was worried Pikachu would perhaps react less friendly, to my surprise, he responded in an almost pleasant growl. The man chuckled and introduced himself. "My name is Jacob, Jacob Silph, it's father's party for my brother you're attending tonight." He kindly motioned us forwards with his one arm. "Sorry to jump on you two like that, but I'm a big fan of the games, and Red - Do you mind me calling you Red?" I shook my head, and he continued. "And Red, have you made a splash! I always tell father we should invite more trainers to these gatherings..."

He waved his hands towards the crowd I now saw. Every man was dressed formally, the women were in their evening gowns, people in many groups of four or five were socializing, and waiters in their white suits were offering cocktails and fried clauncher. There were even pokemon present, delcatty in the arms of elderly ladies, many eevee and eeveelutions next to their owners, proud growlith sitting at the feet of their masters, and I briefly saw one old man with a chattot on his shoulder. The party was held on deck in open air, and hanging from the cables stretched from one end of the ship to the other, small decorative lights in many colors illuminated against the fast approaching dark of the night.

Slightly grabbing me by the arm, Jacob Silph led me carefully through the crowd, and I could feel many pairs of eyes staring at us and hear the murmurs beginning. As we walked he started again in a louder voice. "So, you're here on behalf of the elusive Mr. William Stein, eh? Well, do please tell the next time you see him, he can't keep avoiding us Silphs, one of these days we'll make him appear in public." He once again heartily laughed and then gave a small, quick wink at my direction. "But we do appreciate him at least apologizing and sending you, you might be the only person here who has seen him in person! Tell me, are the rumors true about his face?"

I had no idea what the rumors about his face were, but I could see what Jacob Silph was aiming for, and my admiration for the man grew in seconds. The people here tonight, they were influential men of wealth and taste, and truth be told, despite the attention I was getting lately, they would never care about a two-badger trainer like me, and going further, the fact that I was here tonight with them was an insult to their faces. And if they were to think the Silphs had taken the time to send me of all people an invitation for a private event, tonight's hosts' standing in the social hierarchy would diminish. The families here preyed on scandal and feasted on opportunity, they would never let the Silphs forget they had greeted a nobody to this party with open arms.

But Jacob Silph had cut all of that potential harmful rumor in one swift move. By dragging me right to the center of the crowd, and loudly announcing my relationship to Bill, a connection of its truth he had no idea about, he made it clear I was not here as a trainer, but as a mouthpiece, an emissary to one who truly belonged here. And what was more, he was simultaneously also strengthening his family's name, for now the guests were thinking Bill, Bill who was one of the youngest, smartest, and wealthiest men in Indigo, Bill who had never made an appearance nowhere no matter how much insisted, had not only received the Silph family's invitation, he had acknowledged it, and had even taken the time to find to send someone in his place to deliver his - made up - apologies. In a split second the murmurs doubled in intensity, I even saw some of the guests' eyes widen in interest, closely examining me.

I looked at Jacob Silph and realized he was waiting on an answer with that same playful twinkle in his eyes. I smiled to show I had understood his game; he couldn't of course know if my relationship with Bill was true, if Bill had truly given me his invitation, or if I had somehow lucked myself upon it, but he had turned a potential crisis to his gain while at the same time helping me being taken seriously in this social arena. I put one finger on my lips, making a quiet sign, and shook my head.

"Bill is... a personal friend," I spoke. "And one whose trust is hard to gain. His secrets are safe with me and Pikachu I'm afraid, Mr. Silph."

Jacob Silph rolled his eyes and snorted. "Call me Jacob, Red, Mr. Silph is my father. And I was kidding before of course, it's an honor to entertain a close friend of William Stein."

And with that last remark, my place in tonight's events was sealed. Their curiosities satisfied, the eyes prying on us drifted away and minded their own business, the chatter resumed at a normal level, and I accidentally let out an uncomfortable sigh. I really wasn't at my best when under public attention.

Jacob noticed my discomfort. "You handled that well for someone with no experience," he whispered. "And I didn't lie when I said I was a fan, not many here enjoy battling, especially father, I would steer clear of him tonight if I were you - that's him by the way." He pointed at a short, overweight man with a balding head and long grey beard. It was no secret that Obadiah Silph was an aging man who had sired both his children at quite a late age, but I was still surprised to see the age difference between Jacob and his father. _And if it's Jacob's brother's coming of age party, the younger Silph must be just turning eighteen,_ I thought to myself. Then another thought entered my head. _Why is Jacob helping me tonight?_

"Like I said, I'm a fan." Jacob once again caught me by the arm and walked me, Pikachu followed behind us. "And when it comes to business, I have some... let's just say I differ from my father." His voice grew serious as he gave me a sideways glance. "Father would rather invest in stocks, whereas I, I believe in investing in people. I believe you do someone a favor, in the future they will likely return it. So maybe tonight I help out a fast-rising trainer to establish his standing, and who knows, perhaps later when he's become a leader or four, he'll be more likely to sign off a permission warrant for a construction site in some preserved area like Cerulean Cape." He laughed again. "All of this is hypothetical of course."

Seeing the motivation underneath his actions, I nodded. I couldn't help but like Jacob Silph, he seemed a good businessman with a clear understanding of how the world and people worked. He kept walking with me, clearly leading me to some specific group he had in mind, while introducing his other guests.

"That over there is Baoba Kaiser, he owns half the tour agencies in both Safari Zones. Ah, and here is Lady Naoko, always a pleasure seeing you, how fare your sisters?" We moved past the Kimono Girl of Ecruteak City.

"We have all the way from Hoenn, Mr. Stone of Devon Corp. talking with my father there – look." I squinted my eye to catch a better look of the father of Champion Steven Stone, but Jacob clearly had other guests to attend to and was now walking in a hurry.

"There's another trainer, I think his trainer name was Archie, Archen - eh something similar -, but he's best known as Caleb Luthor, son of the owner of Goldenrod radio, Elijah Luthor. You might have heard of him, his station is doing quite a lot of pieces on you nowadays, so Caleb will likely want to meet you."

He pointed at another figure, an elderly short man. "You probably know Master Dragneel, patriarch to the Blackthorne Dragon Breeders Clan." I gasped as I realized the grandfather of Champion Lance and Leader Clair was here, but we had finally reached the people Jacob was itching to introduce me.

"And here are the two people closest to your age Red. This beautiful lady is Alexandra Wiseman, aka Trainer Alexa, granddaughter of Orin Wiseman and heiress to the Wiseman's Market Chain. And here's someone from Pallet, maybe you two know each other? Allow me to introduce,"

 _Of fucking course._

How could I not have thought of this? My hands turned to fists as I tried containing my anger, and Pikachu's fur crackled threateningly.

"Young master Garret of the esteemed Oak bloodline," Jacob Silph finished. "Why don't all three of you get to know each other better, I'm sure you youngsters would much rather enjoy each other's company than the fossils' here. If you'll excuse me..." He then left to mingle with some other guests.

"Charmed," said Alexa sarcastically as she offered her hand, but I left it in the air, I was too focused on staring at my rival, who the last time I saw had thrown me out of a bar window, stomped on my starter with his heracross, and betrayed my trust to institutionalize a sick, helpless girl, knowing fully well I was intimate with her. Alexa's hand dropped, as she slowly understood there was some history between me and the _esteemed_ Garret Oak here.

"Never leave a lady hanging Reddy boy," Blue said with an inch of humor in his voice. "You're acting awfully rude towards Alexa here."

"It's alright Gary. I've come to expect such actions from Pokemon Trainer Red whose only merit seems to be humiliating gym leaders."

The unexpected hostility in her voice diverted my attention, and I looked at her properly, finally recognizing her as _the_ Trainer Alexa, the five badger whose record I had topped, and who did not like my "attitude". A brunette with a strong jaw and muscular build, she was not particularly beautiful, but that could have been my prejudice towards her.

"Not my _only_ merit," I gritted through my teeth. "I also break records."

Her eyebrows rose as Blue laughed, he was clearly enjoying our exchange. "Well then, I suppose the night was actually productive, even if it only served to prove Trainer Red can actually _speak,_ " she spat out. "I'll leave you two to each other, gentlemen."

"I think she likes you. You know how little boys pull on their favorite girls' hair? Kind of like that," joked Blue, watching her leave. He then turned to me. "Looking sharp today Red, never seen you like this before. Begs the question: Why?"

Pikachu's growls rose, and a woman from a nearby group looked at us hesitantly for a second before continuing her own conversation.

I still didn't utter a word to Blue.

"C'mon Red, put a pin on your rat, you're scaring mine." He pointed towards his feet and I noticed his ratticate crouched behind his legs. "If you're still mad at me about last time, well, that's a two-way street. Also, I'm not sure if this here is the best place to make a scene." He then laughed to himself. "And just so you know, I almost died - I've just been released from the hospital, and what does my shitty gramps do? Force me to attend this borefest." He rolled his eyes. "Then again, if you're here..." He looked at me curiously.

I didn't answer Blue's unspoken question, I was hung up on his confession that he had almost died. Forcing myself to look at him through eyes untainted with anger, I realized he really did seem sick. He was thin, way too much thinner than I last saw, his tux seemed a couple sizes too large. His skin was also a shade paler than usual, the sickly white of a recovering patient, and his grinning mouth looked huge on his bony face. I understood he was speaking the truth, from my experiences, I could tell he had faced a dire situation and had overcome it.

Slowly, I unclenched one fist, then the other, and clicked my tongue. Pikachu stopped growling, and I tried speaking in a calmer voice. "What happened?" I asked.

His answer was a grin as the familiar blue light returned to his eyes when he pulled on his tuxedo's jacket, revealing his pokebelt.

 _That bastard._

To his left, there were three pokeballs. I knew these to belong to his bench or sparring team, and I already knew he had a ratticate and pidgeotto, so since our last meeting he must have added another pokemon, great. But the real shock was seeing the amount of pokeballs on his right side, a spot reserved for the main team.

I knew the first pokeball was his jolteon's, a great supporting mon with an immunity to electric attacks, a direct counter to my starter.

I knew from painful memories that the second one belonged to the unstoppable behemoth that was his heracross.

And now next to that one, there was a third ball, dangling freely from its hold, another member from Blue's personal pick of exceptionally dangerous monsters, one he had no doubt had to fight for his life to obtain.

 _He's doing it. He really is doing it, that bastard. He said he would collect the abnormal, the strongest monsters in existence, the freaks of nature, and he's halfway done. He's even keeping his jolteon in her ball here in public and letting his ratticate free instead so no one can guess what pokemon his starter evolved to, so no one can prepare for his team._

I looked at my life long rival with admiration, envy, and anger all at once. _He's hiding in plain sight. While I've spent these past months gathering badges, making a name for myself, he's been preparing, preparing, and preparing, and when he finally comes, who's going to be able to stop him?_

Heh. As if that was a question that needed answering.

"Meet Argo," whispered Blue, oblivious to my thoughts. "And although I've only had him for eight days, I can easily say, he's the nastiest motherfucker on my team, a true sadistic fuck that almost got away with killing me. Almost." He patted the ball lovingly before allowing his jacket to cover it. "Fucker did hospitalize me though, I almost didn't make it here on time, had to call and beg Daisy to lend me her alakazam to teleport me here."

 _That explains the other ball. Wait._ "Why didn't you simply buy a porting ticket?" I asked, knowing the Oak fortune could afford one easily.

"Didn't know I had to explain my reasons to you Red," replied Blue almost too quickly, and I noticed his lip twitching. There was more to this story, but I let it drop. "And now on to you. We both know you're like a goldeen out of water in this sort of environment." He waved his hands around him. "So you better tell me what you're doing here before you mess up. Maybe I can help?"

I openly laughed, the last time I had shared him a secret had ended with the demise of someone close to me. Ignoring his disappointed look, I grabbed a cocktail from one of the wandering waitresses, carefully examining her face. No, there was nothing familiar about it, and I almost giggled at my foolhardy attempt, what did I expect, the word "Rocket" written on her forehead in bold letters?

A sudden lunge of the floor caught everyone by surprise, which quickly turned to laughter as the S.S. Anne began moving. With all the invited present, the ship would finally begin its cruise around Vermilion Bay. I grabbed a fried clauncher from another waiter and dropped it so Pikachu could get a taste. Taking small sips from my drinks, I tried to find anything out of ordinary, anything that would indicate somehow the ship was under threat, but saw nothing. I did marvel at the efficiency of the security team hired though, trainers on great flying pokemon were taking turns at flying above us in circles, I counted a noiverne, a noctowl, two crobat and honchrow, pokemon excelling at fighting during night. On the other side of the deck's railings were trainers in diving suits that no doubt carried water pokemon, and trainers with xatu, claydol, gardevoir, and gallade; all psychic type, all capable of teleporting guests to safety in case of an emergency.

I snorted. There was no way the rockets would dare hit here, this was all a waste of my time. Following my gaze at the security detail hired, Blue felt the need to give some explanations. "Riana Security. Founded by some vet, Ariana Webster. They're pretty good, she doesn't accept anyone without a minimum four badges won by battle or actual combat experience to her company. Gramps hired them once when he was travelling to Unova. But why are you interested in- Oh my fuck'n Arceus." Blue drew a sharp breath before leaning forward to whisper. " _That's_ why you're here. You're after _them."_

"I have no quarrel with hired security Blue," I said, calmly sipping my drink. I felt a drop hit my head and looked up, was it about to rain?

"I told you once before Red, wise cracking doesn't suit you. You're here for Melanie's so-called _rockets_. That's the only thing that would make you attend this sort of thing. That's why you're checking the security, to see if they will hit here. You encountered them. Again." He looked around, also trying to spot something out of place. "You have to warn these people Red."

"Blue," I said, angry and irritated he knew me too well. "You're paranoid. And do not, ever, say _her_ name again. You don't get that. You don't fucking get to do that."

A silence grew between us, and the patter of more raindrops hitting the deck could be heard. People were beginning to move inside, and I too aimed to leave when Blue's hand on my shoulder stopped me. "You know what Red," he said in the most serious voice I had ever heard from him. "I'm done. I. Am. Done. You do you Red, you're obviously good at it. Just remember, if anything happens tonight, if even one soul is hurt, it's on _you_. Trainer Red against the fucking world, Arceus forbid he ask for help as he aims to conquer it all for no reason at all." He stepped in front of me and walked ahead, his ratticate Partner tailing behind.

Pikachu's fur lighted up and crackled, but I shook my head and scratched the top of his head. No, I wasn't bothered by Blue's words, we had had the exact same discussion in Cerulean, and I had already accepted he was right and was actually trying to improve on the belief backing my ambition. Besides, if he knew what lead I had based myself on in coming here to investigate, I was sure even he would admit the connection was flimsy and there was nothing to worry about. Pikachu sniffed the air hungrily, and soon a blaze of lightning lit the sky, a storm was approaching, and the rain's pace quickened. I hurried my way in with the rest of the guests.

Small tables were set up in front of a stage, and the guests were beginning to take their seats. I chose one still empty near the back, Pikachu between my legs, and was surprised when suddenly someone approached to sit next to me. A man about the same age as Jacob Silph offered me his hand.

"Caleb Luthor."

I recognized the name Jacob had told me about, this was the son of the owner of Goldenrod radio, the one with a trainer's name Silph couldn't remember. I shook the offered hand but said nothing back.

"You know, I've been wanting to meet you for a long time Trainer Red."

 _That's right, suck up to me. See the good it'll do you to convince me going live at your show,_ I turned to face the main stage where some sort of attraction was happening, Obadiah and Jacob Silph were at the center with a third person, a boy, asking for what I was guessing was a microphone.

"Testing. Testing- EEEEOUCH!" screamed Obadiah Silph as the microphone shrieked, and everybody had a good laugh. "Hello everyone, and thank you all for coming to celebrate young Marc's birthday here." Slow clapping interrupted his speech. "But there is actually another reason I've invited you all here, one that was going to wait for the end of this party, but unfortunately, due to a storm approaching we'll have to cut this thing short." The crowd awwwed loudly, and old man Silph dismissed the protests with a wave of his hand. "You see," he continued his speech. "You all might have missed it in my handsomeness, so are you ready to hear this? This might come as a shock: I am old." The crowd roared in laughter, and I missed the next part because Caleb had suddenly leaned near my ear.

"I've been trying to find you ever since Pewter, but boy, you don't rest, do you? So busy." He laughed.

I couldn't take it, this media parasite was seriously beginning to bug me. I whistled softly, and Pikachu jumped out up to the table, growling and fur charged. Luckily, with everyone busy listening to Obadiah, no one else saw this stunt.

"Back off," I warned Caleb.

"-and it is my great honor to introduce the next CEO of Silph Co-"

He looked at Pikachu in an unimpressed manner. "Always meddling in other people's business." He shrugged in a relaxed manner. "Like father like son I suppose."

"MY SON, JACOB SILPH!"

The loud announcement and following applause drowned not only the sound of me standing up abruptly and knocking my chair down, but also the roar of Pikachu's thunder aimed at where Caleb was seated just seconds ago, and the click of a pokeball opening underneath, dropping Caleb Luthor into a collage of shadows, making him disappear out of sight.

 _What just happened?_

I tried breathing calmly but couldn't.

 _What the fuck just happened?_

I needed to sit, find balance, I needed to-

 _WHAT THE FUCK DID HE JUST SAY!_

Pikachu looked up at me worried as I tried grasping the edge of the table in front of me with both hands. Feeling dizzy and sick, I looked up, only to encounter the second horror of the night.

A tall, muscular waiter had just popped open a bottle of champagne and was now pouring the Silph family their celebratory drinks.

A tall, muscular, blonde waiter.

A tall, muscular, blonde waiter, with a same color, thick mustache.

 _So, how's your brother doing?_

 _Duke's on the Anne mission. Good mission._

And even though I was at the far back end, furthest to the central stage, I swore I saw the waiter look up and glare directly at me, and finally smirk as the three Silphs drank from their glasses.

"NO!"

And thus began the third disaster.

My scream was unheard as multiple roars echoed around us, and the S.S. Anne shook violently, the lambs and chandeliers all falling and shattering. The crowd began screaming as the broken glass cut some of them, and then again more loudly as the ship leaned dangerously on one side. Everyone lost their balance, I tried grabbing Pikachu as I rolled on the ground, but the motion was reversed almost immediately as suddenly the ship leaned back to its other side. People were in panic, the white lights were gone and the emergency red lights had kicked in, increasing the stress people were feeling, and I supposed I was perhaps the only one in all my panic knew where to look, only to see the trap sprung.

I saw both Jacob and Marc Silph run away from their father, who was either injured or had passed out, as they courageously tried helping others to their feet, escorting them to the emergency exists, performing acts everyone else would consider heroic, but the truth was only known to me, as I could see their eyes. Their fearless, adrenaline filled, reckless eyes that reeked of drug manipulation, making the Silph brothers act on impulse with disregard to their own safety, their own sanity.

And as they were away from their father, they of course missed when the teleporting trainers of Riana Security barged in, most of them injured, but still trying to do their duty to the fullest, as they began porting out VIP guests out to safety, starting with Obadiah Silph. I saw the heartbroken father reach out for his children as the trainer only doing his duty grabbed on to him and bampf! Disappeared.

More bampfs could be heard if listened carefully over the deafening sounds of metal over metal grinding, snapping, breaking, and finally, as the roof broke free, torn open wide for the pounding rain to batter at us in all its fury, the perpetrators for the attack were made clear with thunder once again lighting the sky, and those who weren't passed out, screamed in wordless horror at the gaping, endless mouths open in front of us.

The giant wyrms roared, and their voice brought the howling wind with them, thunder flashed, and the gyarados hit the S.S. Anne all together again, once more bringing the ship dangerously close to tipping point. We were caught in a mating dance of dragons, the coupling of gyarados, the omega level undisputed terrors of the ocean. One was enough to flatten cities, and here were more than fifty.

 _We're all dead._

Two of the smaller atrocious pokemon dove in, their heads were small enough to fit through the opening, and I watched in horror as the fearless Silph brothers pushed the would be gyarados victims out of the way, only for themselves to be-

A blinding light cut its way to the dragon.

The great wyrm cried in pain as lightning fried its side and an oversized icicle pierced through the eye. The head slithered backwards, and disappeared out of the hole, taking only one of the brothers with it.

 _Only one._

"GO RED!"

I didn't even need to hear Blue's cry as I dashed towards Marc Silph, both Pikachu and my rival's two pokemon providing cover fire against the gyarados. The rain made the floor slippery, but I was closest to him, I would make it, I would-

"No, you don't."

And suddenly I was covered in a mass of red constricting tentacles, binding my legs and arms, crushing my windpipe. Pikachu dared not attack with his lightning in fear of killing me also, but he wasn't even given the chance as he jumped out of the way of the snapping jaw of the houndoom. Struggling for breath, I barely saw Caleb Luthor and a parasect at his side walk their way towards the lying still body of Marc Silph.

 _No. No, no, no!_

 _No..._

The parasect pulled out its bloody pincer from the body of Marc Silph. I was on the verge of passing out as I heard Caleb approaching.

"I never told you my trainer name, did I? I am Pokemon Trainer Archer, lifelong rocket, at your service." He gave a comical bow. "And now you die, Trainer Re- Ah, Arceus dammit."

I gasped for breath as he recalled the octillery on me, and also the parasect at his side. "Don't you hate it when you're interrupted?" he asked.

 _What? What?_

"Hope to see you later, Trainer Red," he said, attempting to jump and pull Marc Silph's body with him into a shadow created by his houndoom.

But Pikachu wouldn't have it. A thunderbolt hit Archer on his side, and I heard a painful cry and smelled burnt clothes, but more importantly, I saw many small pills drop onto the wet floor from his jacket just before Archer managed to shadow out of here with the young Silph. Reaching out, I managed to grab a handful and stuff them in my pocket when a heavy body dropped in front of me from the sky.

"Are you okay?" yelled Trainer Alexa on her skarmory. My throat injured, I could only give a thumb up, not sure if she could actually see it through the heavy rain. "Make it to Gary's position!" she cried. "Help's on the way!" She took flight back to the air.

I realized what she meant with Gary's position was the makeshift barricade Blue's heracross had constructed out of the knocked over tables while I was busy with Archer. With the gyarados still clashing above us, Pikachu and I ran our way back to him and jumped over the tables, landing safely in the middle of a circle of the remaining injured guests of Obadiah Silph. Blue was leaning his back on a turned sideways table, and his jolteon was on his one side sending bolts. A giant cloyster on the other shot icicles.

Wordlessly I released Callidora. If she was surprised to suddenly find herself in Hell, she at least tried not showing it on her face. Her extended vines reached out and began binding the tables surrounding us together, strengthening our defense. Pikachu also ran and took his place next to Blue's jolteon, and the two electric types tried holding back the onslaught of gyarados.

"Silph?" Blue asked, shouting.

I looked at him, he probably had missed Caleb Luthor taking the body and leaving amidst the chaos and rain. I shook my head and he nodded grimly.

"Any other monsters of use?" I yelled. It was his turn to shake his head.

"Invictus is useless in this situation, I called him back after having him assemble this fort. Partner, I, I lost him in the chaos, and Sky would be ripped apart. These two only. You?"

"Calli and Pikachu are already out, I have an untrained persian and a fire type against the strongest fucking water mons in existence, no thanks. And I'd rather save Paul until after we sink."

"We're not going to sink," shouted Blue, sure of himself. "Those remaining from Riana Security ported most of the guests, us and these guys are the only ones left. Problem is-" The deafening noise of a steel beam crashing against the floor interrupted him.

"Problem is," he tried again, yelling. "We're probably off the ship's designated course, the porters don't know where to teleport back to pick the rest of us up, and the storm's interference is blocking our dexes. That's where Alexa comes in, she's trying to fly above the storm and send a signal with her pokedex. Once she manages that, they'll know where to come. We just have to hold on."

"And you thought about all this on your own?" I shouted back as I tied myself to one of Callidora's vines, unwillingly impressed despite the crisis.

"No! Alexa did, her idea. We just have to stay put!" he answered as he too tied himself to the literal life line of Callidora.

A minute of silence passed as we stood between our pokemon trying to fend off the sea beasts and Callidora tying our numbers together. Crawling on the floor, I managed to pull myself closer to Blue and threw my back next to him. "Blue," I whispered. "There's a high chance Alexa's not going to make it. And if these gyarados widen that hole, once they're in, we can't defend ourselves with _tables._ "

"You think these people need to hear that?" He pointed at the many injured and passed out cowering in front of us.

"No," I said. "But you can save another good half of them. Use that alakazam of yours. Grab as many as you can and port the fuck out of here. Save yourself and them."

He looked at me strangely, his abnormally spiky hair now flattened and down on his face because of the rain. "Why do you care for them?"

"Because you're right," I confessed. "This, this is on me. This is my fault."

"What about you?" he asked after a short pause.

"I'll hold off," I lied. "Maybe Alexa will make it. At the least I have a water pokemon, and I'm tied to the others, once we sink, Paul may be able to swim and drag us away from the storm."

The sky brightened, as the largest yet lightning flashed through the dark clouds. A second later, we heard the deafening thunder clap.

"I will not _settle_. I will not _compromise._ And I will not save _half_ , when there's a chance for _all,_ " Blue said. "Because you were right too Red. I can't be a different champion, if I keep acting like the rest."

"So we all die," I finished.

"No. We all live," Too tired for anything else, he dropped his hand to his side on my lap, palm side up. "So, you with me, brother?"

I looked at the people in front of us, paralyzed with fear. I saw his starter and mine, side by side, sending their bolts to fend off the impossible, unavoidable end, together.

 _Arceus fucking damn this stubborn bastard, burn in hell._

I grabbed his hand.

"I'm with you, brother."

))(())((

 _NATIONAL TRAGEDY_

 _Last night, Obadiah Silph, best known as the CEO of Silph Corp., invited the most prominent members of Indigo's high society on a cruise tour aboard the S.S. Anne to celebrate his youngest son's, Marc Silph's birthday, and announce his own retirement and transfer of title to his elder son, Jacob Silph._

 _Last night the S.S. Anne sank._

 _Investigations are still ongoing, but from what we could gather, the main cause of the incident seems to be the ship's captain's inability to refrain from alcohol. In a drunken fit, the captain has steered the S.S Anne off the determined course, and into the middle of a mating ritual between a bed of gyarados (_ _Click_ _to read more on the biology and destructive capability of these monsters)._

 _Despite facing a situation no one could prepare for, the trainers of Riana Security deserve high praise, for if not for them, many more lives would be lost. Hired only to keep an eye on for potential party crashers, the trainers acted swiftly and fearlessly in the face of certain death, and although having lost 4 of their own numbers in initial contact with the gyarados, they managed to teleport 58 of the 103 invited safely to the shores of Vermilion, including Obadiah Silph, Baoba Kaiser, Elijah Luthor, and Joseph Stone._

 _The real problem showed itself later. Because a pokemon can only teleport to a location it is familiar with, the trainers were unable to return and rescue the rest of the guests, since the S.S Anne was now off course and nobody could pinpoint its whereabouts. Leader Surge was alerted of the crisis, rangers were gathered, but by the time anyone could find the ship, those remaining would most probably lose their lives._

 _Indigo has to thank her lucky stars that Pokemon Trainers Red, Blue, and Alexa were also aboard that night. Survivors less injured and were willing to give interviews claimed a coordinated defense from Red and Blue held off the gyarados just long enough for Alexa to fly above the storm and send a signal via her pokedex. Locking in on her position, rescue squads led by Leader Surge managed to port in and rescue another 23 of the guests, including the three trainers._

 _Unfortunately, there was nothing to do for the 22 that had already lost their life. After porting everyone they could to safety, Surge's squad returned to the scene to bravely attempt recovering the bodies, a slight consolation for the mourning families. Our insider claims all but two bodies, those belonging to Caleb Luthor and Marc Silph, have been successfully recovered._

 _This morning, Sinnoh and Kalos champions Cynthia and Diantha have offered condolences for the tragedy occurred, and Hoenn champion Steven Stone is flying in personally to pick up his father, Joseph Stone._

 _There is no word yet from Champion Lance on the issue._

I closed my pokedex.

Pikachu was resting on the bed in the room the pokecenter provided us with, and I was close to joining him, my body was exhausted to its limits, and a new scar pattern was added: Sucker scars from Caleb's, no, _Archer's_ octillery on my arms and legs. But what kept me awake right now was not the sight of those ugly marks, or the guilt I felt that I somehow could have prevented all those deaths, or the fact that I was the only one who truly knew last night's events were no tragic accident, but a carefully designed plan by the rockets for reasons unknown. No, what kept me awake was something both equally less, and much more important.

 _Like father like son._

He could have of course been lying. With trainer names protected under league laws, there was no way he could know who I truly was, yet alone who my father was, when even I couldn't find anything on him.

But somehow, my gut told me he was telling the truth.

 _What the hell does this mean?_

I opened my hand to stare at the one clue I had, the one clue that would lead me to the rockets, and ultimately, the truth.

A handful of pills.

Closely examining them, I noticed they were color coded; red, blue, yellow, green, violet. Then I noticed there were small writings inscribed on each of them.

 _XAttack. XDefense. XSpecial. XSpeed. XAccuracy._

 _X._

 _'Ex'._

Of course.

In my hands was the rockets' miracle drug. This was what had made Dante indestructible, undefeatable when he was with Nolan. This was the chemical that bypassed every test undetected. And this was what the rockets dealt in the underground, this was their main income on money which allowed them to afford large scale operations like the one in Mt. Moon and covert ones like last night's.

Through this, I could hurt them.

How poetically everything fit.

I dialed the number on my dex.

"Bill? It's Red. Remember that favor? I need you to analyze something." I shook the pills in my hand.

"And then, I want you to track it."

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **Longest chapter ever, apologies, I simply couldn't find a place to cut this one shorter. Nothing to add here, except congrats to anyone who saw the** **"** **ex** **"** **\- X thing. Red had of course only heard X being mentioned by Butch, so it was normal of him to think the drug's name as ex, seeing that's how X is pronounced. Lots of references to many prominent NPCs from the games, and Archer's octillery, houndoom, and parasect are based on his team in the** ** _Pokemon Stadium 2_** **game. I suppose gyarados attacking the ship can be considered an anime reference, though that wasn't my intention.**

 **Next update: Possibly near the end of the month, I suspect sometime between the 23rd and 27th.**


	16. Chapter 13: Lightning Strikes Twice

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Lightning Strikes Twice:

Six pokemon. _Electrode. Raichu. Manectric. Electrivire. Ampharos. Magnezone._

Triple battle. _Twenty different possible team combinations._

I checked the joint training Dante and Callidora were undergoing. _We're not ready._

"Again," I ordered, and Callidora snapped her jaw tiredly. Dante gave no reaction.

Pikachu snickered.

And that prompted the seventh fight between my ivysaur and him today. And the fifth one I was too bothered to separate.

An excited murmur rushed through our crowd of spectators. For some reason, Callidora and Pikachu clashing with each other always made the merry onlookers' day. I could feel the soft earth underneath me trembling as many pairs of eyes, visible only because of Dante's flames lighting the cavern, marched forwards unafraid of the stray lightning bolts to more closely inspect the battle my two mains were undergoing. To their disappointment, this particular clash didn't last long. Pikachu swiftly dodged Calliodora's four vines and tackled her on the side, hard. Callidora didn't even give out a whimper, she was too exhausted as her short legs failed her and she fell, giving me a hateful glance. Pikachu snorted and did a small victory tour around her, and the many pokemon watching cheered.

Reaching towards a mixture of crushed leppa and sitrus berries I had prepared, I walked towards her to treat her new bruises. The diglett watching the battle dug underneath and scattered when I approached. "Don't give me that," I said as I rubbed the ointment to her side. "If you can't even handle him, imagine how hard Surge is going to hit. And you and Dante are our only chance in winning. So up your game. Again," I ordered.

A small apologetic look appeared on my charmeleon's face as he nudged Callidora on her uninjured side with his snout. All three of my pokemon knew the main reason Callidora was struggling so much during this training was Dante's fault; the attack plan I had for Surge largely depended on my ivysaur and charmeleon, and Dante was purely lacking. Callidora always had to double her efforts to make up for him, which wasn't fair, but was what needed to be done to win. That change of expression on Dante though was a welcome one, he was normally stoic and distanced from the group, focused only on training. I guessed Callidora sensing his sincere guilt was the final push needed to bring her back up on her feet. With a grunt, she lifted herself and waited my command.

"Now."

And a minute later, when Dante and Callidora were done, after so many failed attempts, with the diglett scattering away from us in fear of their lives, I understood we had finally achieved a satisfactory result. Even Pikachu looked impressed under the shadows of Dante's flames. "Good," I addressed my two tired but proud pokemon. "Rest." And they both collapsed on their bellies.

Chuckling slightly at their sight, I began preparing them their meals. Unfortunately between last week's S.S. Anne catastrophe and our time down here in Diglett's Cave, I hadn't had much of a chance of stocking on meat, and the diglett here were too fast for even my persian Silk to hunt. As for the reason why we were down here in the first place was, well, I needed a large, empty space with soft soil to practice the high risk high reward strategy I had thought of to win against Surge, and the natural wonder born by many centuries worth of diglett digging, moving, and tunneling the earth beneath the mountains east to Vermilion proved the perfect spot to do so. My trainer's license plus a two badge clearance was enough for the rangers to allow me access to the levels lower than what the tourists saw, but I had still avoided the far, most deep corners of Diglett's Cave and settled in a larger cavern relatively closer to the surface; diglett, even in groups, were not that dangerous, but their evolution dugtrio that roamed the lower levels were known to be extremely aggressive with their hypnotic eyesight preventing you from escape - an encounter with a wild dugtrio would always end up in a fight to the death. Also, there were stories of even the best of trainers getting lost in this underground maze, only to be never recovered, an outcome I wished to avoid. Rumors said the tunnels reached all the way from here to Pewter, but I had heard of no scientific evidence backing this claim.

So while Callidora had a relatively decent meal of tree roots, if Dante was displeased with the canned crushed kakuna and metapod goo he was getting, at least he had the decency of not showing it on his face. He sniffed the powdery substance once, then gobbled it all up in one flame covered tongue swoop. I noticed him shutting his eyes as he tasted it, he probably hated it, but I knew these insect carapaces held much more high amounts of protein than bovine meat and were therefore better for a predatory mon like a charmeleon during times when the body was exhausting itself, like when training.

I couldn't help but stare as he ate. It had been a tough decision deciding on him as my third against the Lieutenant, between him and Silk, my persian was actually the stronger mon. But there was the issue that Pikachu would never feel concentrated enough on the battlefield if a predator to his species was with him, and also that Silk was still not listening to me completely. Dante however was all about obedience, and I could see he was working his best to be of use to me. He also had some chemistry with Callidora going on, he never forgot that it was thanks to her he was able to go through his drug withdrawals. So in the end I had decided on him, which had brought the possibilities of a few uncommon team strategies with.

I sat leaning on the cavern's wall deep in thought and began scratching between Pikachu's ears. Once we perfected our battle strategy, we would leave Diglett's Cave to schedule a battle with Surge. I suspected we wouldn't have to wait too long, not many trainers willingly entered a triple battle. And if we lost, well, I didn't want to think about that, because I was pretty sure Surge fought to kill. So instead I tried focusing on what we would do once we won.

Bill was going to meet me in Cerulean after the battle. Over the dex, he was quite excited at the idea of tracking down a drug ring and had insisted I deliver the samples of X I had in person, which made sense since sending drugs via mail would bring us both a lot of problems. So - hopefully - with my earnings from Surge, I was going to book a port to Cerulean, an act in direct violation of my rule against using gym rewards in anything unrelated to my goal.

Except I had to admit, ever since the S.S. Anne, my lines were becoming blurrier and blurrier. I had long suspected the rockets having at least one high caliber league officer on their payroll, and the recent events only proved it more, so did stopping the rockets actually count as a motivation in becoming champion, a position in which I could more easily pluck out the rotten weeds of the league government? Or was it simply personal feelings, a selfish vendetta blinding me so much that I would even sacrifice from my original goal to avenge the death of my team in Mt. Moon, the torture inflicted upon me by James, the hurt Butch had caused, and the humiliation at the hands of Archer?

I sighed. _It's more likely the latter._ Maybe feeling a twinge of guilt and responsibility at the human lives lost at the hands of the rockets was a good first step in finding the motivation, the belief supporting the great ambition that I was born and had every right to be a champion, but no, it was not the ultimate final answer, an answer that would perhaps present itself once I pried from the rockets' mouths more secrets about my fathe-

 _Wait,_ I thought, fully aware that my subconscious had intentionally cut short where my trail of thoughts were headed. _What if the rockets do actually have someone really up high backing them?_

I stared at Dante. _Would they actually?_ There was no chance, but if there were, then of course it would be initiated by the rockets, seeing no one else but them knew about it, and this would prove my suspicions, perhaps even at a great cost at myself. _If it's true..._

I stood abruptly, causing Pikachu to fall from my lap. Ignoring his complaints, I grinned and asked my three pokemon, Dante whose owner was killed, Callidora who had been scarred permanently by an arrowhead, and Pikachu who had experienced firsthand the capabilities of those people, one question.

"Would you like to catch a rocket?"

The answer came in triple growls.

))(())((

No announcer. No cheers.

Only the cold spherical screen hanging from the ceiling.

 _"Pokemon Trainer Red vs Vermilion Gym Leader Surge"_

Underneath my name the screen was split in three equal parts, and while the other two parts were blank, the first had an image of Pikachu, who was down below on the forest arena, far from where I stood on the deck. Surge's side of the screen was also split, but his parts were all blank.

The seats were full, but out of respect for the trainers and most difficult battle type of all, the crowd was silent. I found myself surprised at missing the background noise I had grown accustomed to during these gym challenges but pushed the feeling away. Now was not the time to wallow in fear of the unfamiliar, but to steady my resolve and sharpen my instincts.

For across me, the Lieutenant had entered.

He climbed the trainer's deck in no hurry, each step filled with the assuredness of a man who had seen, done, and survived this experience countless times. I silently wondered how many had been slain by this man, this man whose service record included many impressive feats, from the Alph expeditions to the Tohjo guerrilla wars, this man whose gym held the second highest fatality rate in all of Indigo, trailing just behind Fuchsia Gym. A man of action, incapable of sitting still even when retired from active duty, a man who had served, and was in a way still serving the country he had risked his life for, a man who was formidable even in appearance with his athletic, lean built and short, buzz cut blond hair, a man seemingly undefeatable.

And despite the respect his aura commanded those around him, in an ironic twist of fate, his very visible vulnerability would be the immediate first thing people noticed if not kept hidden, and perhaps that was why those shades so much linked together with the image of Vermilion Gym Leader Lieutenant Surge never left his face; a shield, from the pity filled eyes of the world against a blinded man, a one eyed freak no longer fit for duty, a cover against the memories of a painful end brought to a bright and promising career, only because of one tiny nidoqueen dart less large than a toothpick, a cruel reminder that even the smallest of worries are worth attention and focus in this bestial world of ours.

But if the difference between victory and defeat were to be up to that, well, my body was no stranger to such lessons, and my eyes also had their fair share of secrets to keep. My right arm rose, baring my Lichtenberg figure naked as I pulled down on my cap to cover my eyes. I nodded a small salute towards the one gym leader I felt a kinship towards, a privilege I had not offered to Misty and Brock, and was greeted with a similar gesture back. Both our attentions shifted when the writing on the screen changed.

 _"Trainers! Prepare your pokeballs..."_

I freed Dante and Callidora's balls from my belt ready to throw them. Pikachu had already taken his place in the battlefield before I had climbed the observatory deck reserved for the challenging trainer and was waiting on his teammates.

 _"3..."_

I glimpsed at Surge, what would his choices be?

 _"2..."_

If he had prepared by watching my previous battles - who was I kidding, he had definitely prepared - then he knew of Pikachu, he knew of Callidora, and he knew of Paul. And he probably knew I would not dare use a water type against him, so his choices would counter my starter and ivysaur.

 _"1..."_

What would they be? Perhaps his manectric, or a new electrode? Unlike with Brock and Misty, there was no guesswork and favorable probability here, there were too many variables, there were-

 _"Throw!"_

Dante announced his arrival with a loud, intimidating roar, and I heard a few gasps from the crowd being quickly hushed. Next to the bright red skin of my charmeleon, the healthy green of Callidora made terrible contrast, but we weren't here to win a beauty pageant, we were here to fight. I didn't waste any time as I clicked my tongue, commanding my team to commence the first part of my plan to victory - regardless of Surge's own choices, this opening move would still hit hard.

Hopefully.

Almost in a graceful manner, Callidora dug the soft soil, literally planting herself until only her head and the tip of her bud were visible. Her eyes were shut in concentration, and the slight cracks forming near confirmed that she was extending her vines underground. Dante was crouched in front of her protectively, and Pikachu was twitching around her, disliking being put on protective duty.

That would quickly change depending on Surge's choices. Assured that my plan was set into motion, I turned my attention to Surge's side of the field.

Because of the distance and uneven forest arena full of hedges and mounds, my pokemon were unable to spot Surge's team yet. From the high trainer's deck I was on though, I had a semi-clear view and barely had time to notice a bright flash of orange darting sideways into a denser area of trees. I caught the end of a sharp-edged tail disappearing.

 _His raichu, Ira,_ I thought. _She's following a similar strategy when against Owen, she's going to attack from a blindside unexpectedly._

I frowned, I would have much preferred Surge's team moving in unison, but this was still a scenario I had planned against. Before even registering Surge's other members I gave an order, two thumps against the mic and three short whistles made Pikachu initiate our counter attack. He wished his teammates good luck with a growl - well, he wished Dante luck while deliberately ignoring my ivysaur - but in any case, he too ran and disappeared in the trees to track Ira.

 _I am not going to be ambushed by a raichu. Pikachu should be enough to keep her busy until we take care of the other two,_ I thought as I squinted my eyes to recognize Surge's two other pokemon left on his side.

One was a large, humanoid pokemon with the color scheme of a beedrill, black stripes over yellow fur. Twin tails protruded from his behind, sparks emitting dangerously from their ends. The other looked nothing but a colossal mass of steel, but three previously shut lids opening and revealing one central, two side eyes confirmed the pokemon's identity.

 _The thunderbolt pokemon. The magnet area pokemon._

I tightly gripped the railings in front of me unintentionally. _This is going to be tough._

Movement from the other side made me concentrate back on the fight. A blueish light surrounded Superbia the magnezone for a second as it was lifted in the air, the three eyes setting themselves each on a different direction. Its magnet shaped attachments constantly whirling, the pokemon hovered just above Acedia the elektrivire who had begun his march. Mimicking the confidence of his trainer in his steps, Acedia walked towards my side of the field at a steady pace, all the while looking up and giving me a bloody grin.

I had a slight suspicion of what Surge's play was, but I needed to test it before the higher trees would block my sight. And Pikachu couldn't be the one who did the testing, for if my suspicions were right, that would end in a disaster, and Callidora was too busy setting up the field, so...

 _This is your make and break moment._

Three thumps and two whistles. _Dante. Engage from a distance._

Eager to prove himself, my predator pokemon dropped on all fours and climbed the nearest hill in front of him in typical reptilian fashion. A long flaming tongue came out to taste the air, and having caught the scent, Dante headed towards the direction of his "prey".

All the while that blasted electrivire kept grinning.

I knew he was taunting me. It was obvious Surge was breaking our ranks, just like how he had taunted Trainer Owen to reveal his swampert early, he had now made me separate Dante from the side of my electricity resistant ivysaur where together they could mount a better offense and defense. Surge probably suspected a similar tactic like Owen's from me, a defensive play where my grass type would cover the field in spores and seed traps safely under my fire type's protective flames, extremely dangerous in this woodland gym arena.

I did not blame him from thinking so, a high caliber gym leader whose regulars were almost always four or five badgers was in the right to suspect that sort of action from those two types of pokemon.

I was however a bit insulted that he would think I _,_ Pokemon Trainer Red, would play _defense_.

Three thumps and a whistle stopped Dante. He was now in eyesight of Surge's pokemon, at perfect distance for some test fire, but also close enough to Callidora's proximity for a hasty retreat.

And still Surge's duo did nothing, keeping their walk, even though Dante had long entered their thunder range.

That alone should have been enough to prove my suspicions, but I wanted to be sure. So I repeated my previous command, and Dante roared his flames towards the electrivire.

There were of course some reasons why that did nothing. For one, these were fully evolved and trained gym pokemon, and Dante's weak second stage evolution flames would at most singe them. And two, Dante himself was not even good of a pokemon, even among his own species, his time with Nolan and drug abuse had weakened him severely.

But even considering all that, the flames weren't supposed to just part midway as if hitting an invisible spherical barrier and then dissolve before making contact.

A giggle from the crowd was quickly hushed. Not that I blamed the person, Dante's attack attempt was so pathetic it was almost funny.

But it did serve its purpose. I now fully understood Surge's aim. Signaling Dante retreat, I quickly began thinking on what to do.

To put it simply, Surge's two pokemon weren't attacking, because they didn't _need_ to. The magnezone levitating above the electrivire was constantly emitting a protective screen only the most powerful attacks could break through. The duo was going to keep walking until they were near enough to my ivysaur and charmeleon to deliver a sure, one shot kill, efficient and without waste. Him not bothering to shoot my charmeleon right now could while be seen as underestimation of my potential by the untrained eye, it was actually cautiousness. Electric type pokemon were only as powerful as the charge their body stored, and my past battles had probably shown Surge I was great at exploiting my opponents' strengths through uncommon strategies, he was probably worried of a hidden trump card of mine that would exhaust and deplete his pokemon while they were busy with Dante.

Not that my hidden card would work that way. I smiled to myself as Dante hurried his way back to Callidora. _Rightful reputation is a powerful tool._ As long as Surge suspected I was too good to leave my charmeleon out in the open without some sort of plan, Dante could safely return to begin my _real_ attack, one that I was sure would hit so hard that not even the magnezone could shield.

Dante's scouting had proved useful, I now knew the Lieutenant's tactic, and it was nothing I couldn't win against. Callidora slowly rising from her place showed she was nearly done, and once the magnezone and electrivire were dealt with, all that would remain was the raichu. Despite knowing it was Surge's ace and strongest, I still liked my odds of three vs one against it.

Thump.

The sound echoing surprised me. I checked the microphone, had I accidentally tapped it?

My blood froze when I realized it was from the other side of the field.

Up until now, the magnezone and electrivire, even the raichu, they were all following some scenario their trainer had made them practice in the endless preparation against future gym challenges. The pokemon always knew how and when to act depending on their opponents' types and species, like when against Trainer Owen, where Surge had not issued one single command.

Not now though.

Vermilion Gym Leader "Lieutenant" Surge had just issued his first order.

 _Red, you stupid, overconfident, arrogant fool._

 _We're dead._

By having Dante attack and try guessing Surge's strategy, I had exposed my charmeleon's weakness. It sounded cruel, but Dante was _not_ a good pokemon, or at least not a good enough pokemon for this level of battle, and the entire reason why he was on this field was for me to utilize a strategy that only worked when he was near Callidora.

I was so sure that Surge wouldn't deviate from his usual against me that I had seen little risk in separating them. But Surge was not Brock who was quick to anger, not Misty easy to surprise, no. A professional killer was what the Lieutenant was, one who had easily seen through my mask, my illusion of grandness I was certain would protect my pokemon. Absolutely sure that no hidden tactic of mine could support and boost my too weak charmeleon enough to actually cause harm to his team, Surge had abandoned caution and decided on acting while my two pokemon were apart.

What's more, I had the sneaking suspicion that he had also guessed my aim with Callidora and Dante, and wanted to avoid that at all costs. The strategy so underused that I never thought Surge would suspect was about to be dissected in front of me.

Unless Dante survived.

I couldn't give the orders fast enough. _Retreat, retreat, retreat!_

I was too late.

Dante ran as fast as he could, but what chased him was thunder, and his instincts weren't the best. The magnezone's antenna twitched, and out flew the brightest, most powerful bolt I had ever seen. Dante only survived though luck, in his haste he tripped over an overgrown tree root, and the lightning missed, flowing over his head.

That brought me an idea that could help us.

Three taps and a short whistle. _The trees! Hide in the trees!_

He didn't hesitate as he darted into a denser area of the forest, and the lightning chasing him hit a thick trunk, blackening the surface. I sighed in relief. I now lost sight of my pokemon, which would make it harder to issue commands, but at least the trees would serve as barricades from the raining thunder, and while most electric types were agile, magnezone and electrivire were not, and a charmeleon, even at its worst, was naturally so. The trees created an advantageous parkour arena where Dante could maneuver more easily than his pursuers.

Or so I thought.

A slight pause passed before the magnezone took aim again - one, two, three bolts rapidly fired at... _Acedia._ The huge electrivire shivered as if a weedle had stung it, then let out a bloodthirsty howl.

Horrified, I could only watch as Acedia ran into the forest, jumping incredibly high and grabbing a tree branch like an overgrown ambipom, clinging to two tree branches with his tails. Sniffing the air loudly, he somersaulted back on ground and disappeared after Dante, chasing him with unbelievable speed.

Meanwhile Superbia turned and continued its initial destination towards my ivysaur.

I forced myself not to blink as I focused on the battlefield, not wanting for even a second to glimpse away. Through steady breathing I held the panic at bay and tried analyzing the horrific situation we were in.

Taking full advantage of an electrivire's unique biology capable of converting external electrical energy to increased muscle strength, Surge had buffed Acedia and set him loose on Dante. A now much faster and agile hunter on his trail, Dante was only alive thanks to the few seconds of head start he had gotten while Superbia was amping the electrivire up. If Dante was smart, he would keep running, and I hoped I could come up with a plan until Acedia caught and killed him - recalling him was not an option available because of me lacking visibility.

Callidora was relatively safe and almost done, she was now out of the dirt and only a few vines were still attached to her sides. Her part of the plan would be over before the slow magnezone would be in shooting range, but one-on-one she had no chance against a pokemon species with a mind boggling eleven resistances and, when levitated, two immunities, even if she did indeed resist its electric attacks.

No, for to survive and win, I needed to somehow get Dante over to her side, there was no other way. I gritted my teeth and racked my brain, how could I do this, how, how, how, how-

A distant spark caught my attention. It ended quickly but I noticed it wasn't on Dante and his pursuer's side of the woods, and it definitely wasn't from Superbia who was clearly visible as it hovered slowly towards the hill my ivysaur was planted behind, so that left...

 _Pikachu._

I hadn't forgotten about the other aspect of this ongoing battle, the fight hidden behind trees away from both Surge's and mine sight, the fight between Pikachu and Ira the raichu. His job was to keep the raichu away until the end, but things weren't exactly going as planned...

I made my decision quickly. Two taps. _Pikachu._ A whistle. _Join the main battle._

There was no noticeable sign that showed my starter had understood the order, but I couldn't dwell on that now, I had to time this perfectly.

Numbers were racing through my head; the average speed of a raichu and pikachu, the known speed of Pikachu, the top speed of Ira I had seen from videos, in correlation to the distance from where I had seen the spark and the clearing Superbia was moving above.

With one hand I wiped the sweat from my forehead, never before had I needed to so intently concentrate on the theoretical knowledge imparted on me during training school. _I also need to factor in Dante's speed, and a three times buffed electrivire's. The equation is output divided by distance, times k, times three over two to the, how many bolts was it? Three, to the three - shoot, what's the average magnezone voltage, damn it..._

A painful roar near Dante's side distracted me. _No time. Let's wing it._

I tapped thrice. _Dante._ Two whistles. _Retreat back to Callidora._

Once again, there was no way of confirming my orders had been heard.

I bit my lips in anxiety as the seconds lasting an eternity passed. A heavy silence hung in the air, my attention was divided equally between Superbia closing the distance to Callidora and the two sides of the forest from where I expected some reinforcements, but none came, and now the magnezone was on top of the hill, a suitable vantage point to drop the thunder on my ivysaur, who cried out in worry as the air crackled, and I, damning myself for it, _hating_ myself for it, still hung to the hope that _somehow_ this would work out and I wouldn't need to recall her, couldn't push the huge "Surrender" button in front, and when none came I was too _late_ , and the antenna twitched and came a powerful, _powerful_ thunderbolt aimed at Callidora, whose eyes widened helplessly as-

Under the surprised looks of every onlooker, the bolt changed direction midair, turning at a wide angle and avoiding Callidora by a large margin.

I almost collapsed in relief. _Pikachu, you amazing, incredible son of a rat, after this you get all the poffins you want._

Of course, I was giving credit to my starter falsely, what had really saved us was not Pikachu who was limping on one foot as he dashed and ran in a zig zag, dodging the thunderbolts sent behind him.

It was his chaser: Ira the raichu. Now that she was in close proximity, her tail was catching every bolt Superbia was sending, which while indeed powered her up - a problem for later - it at least took away Superbia's most powerful weapon in its arsenal, rendering it useless, and more importantly, buying us time.

This was why Surge insisted on making his raichu attack alone and away from his other pokemon in all his battles, like when against Trainer Owen. Ira's tail was literally a double-edged sword; a lightning rod that channeled a finisher attack of unbelievable power, but also a thief stealing her teammates' daggers. If Surge knew what I had ordered, I was sure he would have commanded his raichu to stay behind and not be goaded into a chase by Pikachu, but hence was the reason us trainers used taps and whistles, to disguise our intents.

I thought I heard a chuckle from Surge's side, and I almost smiled myself, but that didn't matter now. For Callidora was done, and the tall sprout grown perpendicular upwards from the ground was its proof. Leaving the literal fuse of my hidden ace in the hole behind, Callidora was ready for battle.

And so was Dante.

I couldn't believe my eyes when he ran out of the forest, his tail was dangerously black, probably caught by a thunderbolt from the electrivire, but otherwise healthy. My heart glowed in the dedication he showed to his mission, a pokemon that would obey every order to a letter, even at expense to his own safety, Dante's red skin was almost purple from the lack of oxygen his body was receiving. Panting crazily in short intervals, he was giving his all and about to fulfill his order: _Retreat back to Callidora._

At that moment, I knew he was going to be my third main. I didn't know what the future held, if we would survive this battle or not, but such willpower was supposed to be rewarded. Dante would maybe never become the clever tactician Callidora was, or show Pikachu's ridiculous courage, but he would probably always be the most loyal to a fault, the one who followed orders precisely, a soldier to the end.

Ironic that he was the one about to light the fuse signaling the Lieutenant's end.

The trees behind him came down crashing, obviously frustrated at his inability to catch Dante, Acedia was using his bulk and speed to pummel through. When he came out into the open, he didn't hesitate to throw unhindered thunderbolts towards Dante's way.

Of course, they missed and hit Ira instead. She was now sparkling with excess energy, but was still unloading them in small voltages at Pikachu who kept dodging them, my guess now that she had accumulated this much, Surge was ordering her to store and save it for later. He could also still order her to retreat so that his other pokemon would be able to aim correctly, but I thought he too knew the time for that had passed, and soon there would be nowhere to retreat.

A few series of thuds were heard from Surge's microphone, their meaning I correctly deduced as _stop that charmeleon._

Acedia was nearest and quickest, his muscles were still charged with too much power, and even though his projectile attacks were taken from him, the electrivire was still the physically strongest on the field. He grunted loudly and began sprinting, each powerful stride closing the distance between him and his target when-

Sudden flashbacks hit me. _A yellow mouse refusing to change his path and instead shocking the much larger human boy. A rat charging against a mountain sized onix head on fearlessly. A pikachu hating having to keep distance from a quagsire, even though its immunity, even though his trainer had ordered so._

Of course Pikachu was going to intervene. What could scare him, the electrivire's size, the strength of its simian arms, the slash of the two tails?

He had faced much worse.

He headbutted Acedia from the side, and at the speed the electrivire was at, it was no wonder he lost his balance and tripped, buying Dante another precious minute. I ordered Pikachu furiously to retreat, every place outside from where Callidora stood was in danger, and luckily, he listened, running behind Dante to the clearing with Ira the raichu close on his tail, still sending small bolts.

But now Superbia was coming, it turned from the hilltop Dante and Pikachu were running towards and confronted my two pokemon, even with its firepower taken away its sheer size alone could block or crush them. I couldn't take my eyes away from the hypnotic chase that entranced me; Ira behind Pikachu, Pikachu behind Dante, and in front of them all Superbia, closing in. Would my two pokemon be fast enough to avoid the bulk of steel, and in doing so, could they still dodge the super charged raichu chasing them, ready for a moment's hesitation to discharge her load?

A half grunting, half sneezing sound rose.

Callidora had snorted.

First the right eyelid shut, then the left. The central one resisted, but it too fell victim to the slumber that suddenly overcame the magnezone. With a deafening crash, the airborne Superbia dropped, and both Dante and Pikachu jumped over it without losing momentum.

I couldn't believe my eyes, when, when had Callidora managed to land the sleep powders with her horrible aim? I remembered the split-second distraction Dante's emergence had caused everyone, had she done the deed then, while Superbia's bolts were misdirected? I hadn't ordered her to do so, just like when against Roulette, she had come up with her own tactic and brought us near victory.

 _Almost there,_ I thought. _Almost. Almost._

Dante and Pikachu slid down the hill, Dante's jaw was open, his tongue was in flames, the end of the sprout was in sight-

Ira the raichu jumped, she was midair and on our side of the field, and Acedia now recovered was back on his feet on the other, soon it would be too late-

 _Now._

A month of training in Diglett's Cave until this was perfected.

 _Totally worth it._

The battlefield exploded.

The better descriptive was, _Surge's side_ of the arena exploded, fire was erupting from the ground imitating active volcanoes. This was not something like Owen's torkoal setting a few trees on fire, that compared to this was only _cute._ Here the ground was shattered and in cracks, hot steam escaped from the holes, the earth itself was ablaze, and half of the forest was burning. A bed of fire surrounded Surge's side, and it was _beautiful._

A horrible smell of metal burning reached my nose, Superbia, closer to the imaginary line dividing my side of the arena from Surge's, was spared the unstoppable inferno's touch, but the intense heat from the ground was cooking the drugged to sleep automaton alive, and despite it belonging to a species with the fewest type resistances known to mankind, unfortunately one the few weaknesses it did have was _fire_. A burning tree branch breaking free and dropping on top sealed its end, who could blame Surge from recalling his pokemon?

As for Acedia, he was lucky the screens set by Superbia on him were still intact, otherwise he would most definitely be killed. An eruption had occurred under him, the blast throwing him sideways and the flames burning his fur. He was strong enough a pokemon to survive this, but to what end? If the fire was contained, he could still make it to my side of the field and deliver revenge, but it wasn't, it was _everywhere_. Surrounded by a ring of fire, and the soles of his feet burning from the heat so much that he had no choice but to jump from one foot to another, he howled in pain, and his master relieved him by recalling him back to the safety of his pokeball.

 _And then there was one._

 _And still the more favorable one,_ I grimly thought.

Pikachu was already limping and that last run had taken a lot from him, not only was he physically tired, his opponent was one he couldn't even attack with electricity, he was down to teeth and claws. Dante was near out, panting, purplish in color and catching his breath, his tail dangerously black. Callidora was the best among them, but I knew it was a brave front, after what she had done, she was unable to grow any more vines and was out of her main form of battle.

Ira the raichu, compared to my team, sparkled as a surge of electricity ran through her body, similar to a descended god of wrath, unafraid and powerful.

 _The real battle is now beginning._ I crouched forwards in anticipation of the fight to come, my mind was running different scenarios, was aiming for a status effect the more probable path to victory, or should I try simply attacking her with numbers, what would Surge's play be-

A red light swallowed Ira, and she was gone.

It took me and all my pokemon a minute to process it. The crowd's thundering cheers and the screen confirmed it.

Surge had tapped out.

The effects of adrenaline passed, and all I was left with was exhaustion. I barely processed the pelipper flying in dropping gallons of water on the fire we had started and the gym aides rushing to take my team to a pokecenter. I looked a final time at the screen that displayed those unbelievable words.

 _"Trainer Red has won the match!"_

))(())((

I wasn't even surprised anymore that once again a leader had decided on meeting me in person for some paperwork the aides could easily handle. I was surprised though he held his shades in his hand, revealing the milky white one blind eye, and seemed lively for a man who had surrendered.

"Pledge. Fucking pledge." He laughed openly when I jerked involuntarily at his nonprofessional manner. "Nobody does pledge kid, nobody. How the fuck did you think of that?" He laughed again. "Where were bright minds like you during the Sevii ops?" His enthusiasm also lifting my spirits, I grinned and collapsed on the chair he showed me.

Pledge was a very very much underused strategy that only worked with specific pokemon under specific situations. Since the first time the trainer system was implemented in Kanto, trainers had been experimenting on the idea of the perfect team, and today the general consensus was that while no such thing existed, there were certain pokemon duos and trios that had more synergy with each other than others, allowing them to act as cores to the ideal final team. Further trial and error showed not only specific pokemon species, but specific pokemon _types_ also shared bonds, and thus were the three main cycles for mixed core team trainers such as myself were built; water grass fire, dragon fairy steel, and fighting psychic dark.

The pledge tactic was born out of coincidence when circa a hundred years ago in Kalos a Trainer Pledge noticed his empoleon, typhlosion, and chesnaught's elemental powers reacting uniquely with each other. Realizing he had stumbled on a gold mine, he utilized this never seen before tactic to the fullest and became one of Kalos' younger champions. The premise of the tactic that later adopted his name was actually quite simple: The three pokemon brought forth a total three combination moves; his empoleon and typhlosion created a mystical mist blinding his enemies, his chesnaught and empoleon turned the ground under his opponents' feet to a swamp, and his typhlosion and chesnaught _created a bed of fire engulfing his foes._

Familiar?

That century every trainer tried mimicking Pledge's way of battle. The pledge tactic's greatest two advantages were that for one, the effects were lasting, similar to screens, they only dissolved with time, and two, they brought a unique way to incapacitating pokemon that were previously thought untouchable. Parafusion was always the tactic to bringing down the big and strong, but how would it work against a krookodile immune to psychic manipulation and thunderbolts? Trick room was versatile but always risky, what if the opponent was keeping a pokemon slower than yours as a last-minute play? The pledge moves were great in avoiding these complexities, they achieved the same results as the previous tactics with more firepower and none of the drawbacks.

So why was it so underused?

Because it usually did not work.

Trainers thought every grass water fire combo would do the job, so they tried the same tactic with better mons than Champion Pledge's. Instead of a empoleon, why not a gyarados? A ninetales in place of a thyphlosion, an exeguttor for a chesnaught, stronger mons would achieve stronger results was the idea.

It failed.

Scientists were still examining exactly why. Later research showed the pledge moves only worked with a few number of pokemon, twenty-one species to be exact, seven from each type, and it was nothing but luck that had brought Trainer Pledge to use a trio from that group. The reigning theory was these species had branched from the same evolutionary ancestor and hence their elemental powers were closer in sync compared to other mons', but there was no way to be absolutely sure and it really did not change a thing, trainers soon forgot about this incredibly limited battle strategy in favor of less restrictive ones.

Not me though.

And Blue used to ask why I was so fixated on destiny. How else would one explain fate landing an ivysaur and charmeleon my way?

I knew Surge demanded a team battle, I knew my charmeleon and ivysaur were part of the twenty-one capable of a pledge attack, and I knew this powerful combination would knock out at least one of Surge's team and then set the forest on fire. All Callidora had to do was find the time to dig underground and reach out with her vines all the way towards Surge's side of the field, tangle her extensions with the roots of the trees present, and punch holes through the earth to allow oxygen access the vine-tunnels hidden underneath.

And then Dante could set it all on fire.

The training in Diglett's Cave proved the charmeleon's flames would react with the ivysaur's vines as intended, burning them thoroughly and creating an underground oven that with trapped heated air trying to expand would erupt. I had my doubts that we were going to pull it off, especially when Dante was being chased, but in the end, we had managed. And it proved Surge's high capabilities as a badge giver that he had caught the tactic much earlier than expected and did his best to stop it; I didn't like to rank our nation's leaders, but compared to Misty who was surprised by a trick room slowbro, a pokemon species with a type she was supposed to be an expert of, and Brock who had been played like a fiddle by me, Surge held a much more higher position than them in my eyes.

Which begged the question, why had he surrendered when there was still a chance of victory for him?

"I like to think each gym challenges a trainer in one way," he explained before I asked. "Jasmine is a test to durability, Sabrina to instinct, Falkner to speed. It's not official, just my personal observations. And me, well, you know this gym's rules, there's only one: Three vs three triple battle." He looked at me with one good eye. "I test strategy Red, strategy. Preparedness. If I'm going to teach any trainer a lesson, I think that's what matters. I've heard Brock and Misty have had some... disagreements with your methods."

I snorted involuntarily, but he shook his head. "Don't do that. They're right. You are a stubborn, cocky trainer who recklessly endangers his pokemon's lives and has shown zero flexibility from your methods. The pace at you're taking badges, you're bound to crash soon. Hard." His tone cheered up. "Lucky for you, it's those qualities I test here at Vermilion Gym. Are you prepared? Do you have a plan? Is it a _good_ one? And can it work?"

He chuckled. "You passed all that with golden stars Red, so I see no harm in giving you this. You earned it." And he reached out to give me the Thunder Badge.

Though discouraged from his speech, I took it. I felt the coldness of it in my palm. _Five left._

"On an unrelated note, have you ever considered breeding that L.B. Chu?" he asked, winking.

I stumbled. _The L.B. what?_

"Heh. Forgive a veteran for still using army slang," he said when he noticed I was unaware of the term's meaning. "How to explain... You aware of the eviolite genome?" he asked.

I nodded. A rare disorder that appeared in unevolved pokemon, it granted the pokemon more physical bulk at the expense of elemental powers. I would actually consider it the reason for the abnormal size of my pikachu if he was dealing any less output than normal for a pikachu, but no, far from it, his body actually allowed him to top the curve of his species.

"Good. Did you know it sometimes varies in effect for certain species though?"

That I did not. I looked up surprised.

He grinned again. "They don't teach you _everything_ at trainer's school you know, otherwise us leaders would be jobless. You really should consider signing up at a gym," he said softly. "Let's see, in some species the eviolite genome can show up mutated with different effects. Species like cubone, chansey, even single staged mons like ditto, and - guess what - _pikachu_. The army drilled these into our head in case we ever encounter one during war; a monster acting out of norm on the enemies' side is not a surprise we want. We have code names for such pokemon; a normally defensive healer like a chansey acts abnormally offensive, we know it's an eviolite variant, we call it a lucky punch chansey, L.P. Sey. And a frail, small pikachu, large and strong instead is a light ball pikachu, L.B Chu."

This was actually very interesting information that needed to be looked more into later, but Surge wasn't quite finished.

"It does come with a drawback though kid." He seemed to hesitate before continuing. "It's likely your chu will never evolve or will take so much time to, you'll never see it. I'm not saying it's a definite, but it is likely."

Surge gave me a minute to silently process this piece of news. He continued after clearing his throat. "Anyway, here's my number. Give me a call if you ever consider breeding. The eviolite genome is usually hereditary, and L.B. Chu's are pretty rare, so if you want a whole nest of tiny rat monsters, I'm your guy. I bet your pikachu can quench some of the fire in my Ira's belly." He winked.

Was, was Surge offering his raichu to _lay_ with Pikachu? Quite uncomfortable now, and admittedly a bit red in the face, I stood up to leave and offered him my hand.

He didn't seem that surprised I had kept quiet on his offer. "Hope to see you go big Red," he said shaking my hand. "Brock and Misty tell it's almost customary to offer you the gym's back exit, ask Aaron at reception."

"And if you happen to change your mind," he repeated as I turned to leave, feeling his only good eye staring intently from behind. "Give me a call."

))(())((

They came two days later.

I had expected them sooner.

It was just after I had booked a port to Cerulean City on my dex for next week, and a newly discharged Pikachu and I were enjoying our last days in Vermilion City by throwing bread at the wingull near the docks.

We felt them coming of course, we were expecting it. The hardest part was trying to pretend we weren't and giving a fake fight.

Still, of all the pokemon present during that ambush, it was the wartortle that impressed me most. He wasn't even the target of Pikachu's thunderbolt, he had just jumped in to save his partner hoppip, whose paralyzing spores had numbed my body so much I lay on the pier deck limp. Out of the corner of my eye I saw two manectric holding Pikachu down with their teeth.

And then came the blues. A trio of Vermilion's finest, donning their perfectly pressed police uniforms, I had to admit the ladies were polite considering they were arresting me.

"Pokemon Trainer Red, you are under arrest for the murder of Pokemon Trainer Nolan and the theft of his starter pokemon issued the codename Dante. You have the right to remain silence and..."

Their voice drifted off as the hoppip's drugs kicked in, and I managed Pikachu one sideways grin before I passed out.

 _Hook, line, and sinker._

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **Red's dugtrio hypnotic eyesight explanation in Diglett's Cave is my take on dugtrio's signature (annoying) ability, "arena trap" that prevents escape or switching. Pledge moves in the games are exactly as described here, limited but powerful. They weren't that useful when I played competitive, 50BP doubled when used in sync wasn't really good, but a month ago or so I watched a video with MegaZardY and ChloroSaur trying it, and boy oh boy, how sorry I felt for the opponent. A buff in the newer gens had increased the move to 80BP, doubled to a 160BP fire attack from a MegaZardY under the sun with the speed of a ChloroSaur, plus four turns of burn chip damage. My first thought was that shit needs to be banned, but then it came to me: Wait-a-minnut, Red will have an ivysaur and charmeleon at this point of my fic, and if anything can handle Surge, this is it. So yeah, that's the story behind it all (The 21 pokemon Red talks about are not actually the starters of each gen 3x7, remember Alola is still being discovered! It's actually 21 with the first 6 gen starters and the elemental monkeys in Unova, I recently learned they too can do the pledge moves).**

 **Eviolite is normally an item that doubles the unevolved holder's spdef and def. I changed it to a genetic disorder. A light ball, like a lucky punch, is a pokemon specific item, it doubles a pikachu's attack and spattack, putting it on an even higher number than a raichu's. I sort of combined the two to bring a proper explanation for Red's beast of a pikachu.**

 **Next Update: A Blue chapter? A Blue chapter. Probably in two weeks, mid to end May.**


	17. Blue's Journal: The Jack

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

BLUE'S JOURNAL

The Jack:

 _Screams and people running in panic. I reach to my side, but something is wrong, what should be there is not and I am defenseless. I try escaping, but now all is quiet, and the people lie face down covered in blood._

 _The ground shakes familiarly. Am I on a boat? I look up, no, there is a sky clear and full of stars. Except the stars are all falling, falling, falling, and when they drop I realize they are not stars at all but instead glass chandeliers shattering, exploding on touch with the ground, their shards cutting the lifeless bodies like pieces of shrapnel. And out of the wounds gush a red liquid all too familiar like a tsunami, catching me and bringing me up high to the lightless sky._

 _I was wrong, I can see now that it isn't the sky but a mouth instead, a huge, gaping mouth with teeth surrounding it. My vision expands, I notice the giant wyrm attached to the black hole, twitching midair, and I am helpless, my silent scream is heard by none as the darkness swallows me._

 _Then come the voices._

 _"GARY! GARY!"_

 _"I have him, take him, hurry!"_

 _"Daddy, what's happening, what's happening?"_

 _"Linda, get the kids, GET THE KIDS! GO! RUN!"_

 _"Daisy honey, close your eyes, it's going to be okay, okay, alright?"_

 _"Mom? MOM?"_

 _"I need you to be strong honey, hold your brother, hold your brother here, mommy's going to go get daddy okay?"_

 _"Mom, don't go, mom don't leave me!"_

 _"...Mom? Mommy?!"_

 _Bright flashes ripping at the dark blind me, something roars, and I cannot see but know it is coming, near, nearer, almost on top of me, about to squash me flat and I-_

"Aaaaaarghhhhhhhh!"

I woke up and immediately threw up all over my hospital gown. Trapped where the line between reality and dreams was blurred, I allowed the nurses to fuss over me. One of them yanked the hospital gown I had off and went to bring a new one while the other cleaned the vomit and cold sweat.

And if a fairly attractive lady in a nurse uniform wiping your naked upper body with a towel soaked in hot water wasn't a call back to reality, then I didn't know what was.

"I'm okay," I managed muttering to the unconvinced nurse. "Really, I am. Just a nightmare."

An understanding look came to her eyes. "Completely understandable Mr. Oak, after that tragedy, I can't even imagine-"

The expression on my face must have convinced her to stop. Grimly, I lay back and waited in silence till the nurse was done, pondering on my dream.

 _What in the hellity hell was that all about?_

It didn't take being a shrink to guess last week's S.S. Anne... disaster, for lack of a better word, had messed me up pretty bad. My body was already in poor health before because of my semi-suicidal attempt at catching Argo, and witnessing gyarados making an open buffet out of people wasn't exactly the medicine my doctor had ordered, plus a night's long exposure to the winds and rain born of the sea beasts' appetite had left me with a nasty fever. The one good thing that came out of this was because of my brave services during that night, a room at one of Vermilion's most luxurious private hospitals was reserved for me, free of charge.

Unintentionally my hands formed fists, if the nurses noticed they didn't say anything.

 _Brave services._

I hadn't done shit that night, except survive. It was Alexa who had saved us all, it was her who had braved the storm and dragons, her who had flown above it all to send the signal that saved everyone's lives. Me and Red? We had just held our ground and pulled those close to us, that was it.

Twenty-six people, not mention the many pokemon on board, including one of my own, were now dead. Partner was dead. Dead. Lives lost in the most horrid, degrading fashion anyone could ever imagine, chewed on by the man-eating beasts, drowned, or bled dry through open wounds.

All while I did nothing.

Some champion I was going to make.

 _This is survivor's guilt talking,_ my inner voice took charge. _You're being too hard on yourself and you know it. You saved twenty lives that night, you and Red both. That's twenty husbands returning to their wives, twenty mothers hugging their children, twenty parents not weeping over their kids' bodies. You did what you could._

 _I did what I could..._ I almost smiled, and I could hear the venom drenched sarcasm dripping from my thoughts. _I did what I could, sure. Tell me, if Lance was on board that night instead of me, what would have happened?_

 _That is not fair, and you know it,_ my inner voice replied immediately as if in defense for a response he guessed was coming, which in a sense he actually did, since he was, uh, me. _Just because you're aiming to become a champion, doesn't mean you get to compare yourself to one, not yet. You have some quality mons, yes, but you lack the experience. And for the record, even Lance couldn't have saved everyone from that many gyarados._

 _The whole point of this is to be better than even him! The best! So the people can prosper. So my people can live. So my people can have a night's afternoon celebrating a son's birthday with friends without the risk of being eaten._ I shut my eyes. _Do I have to wait three years before that can happen?_

 _It's... still too early. You're still too inexperienced._ The voice was soft, almost in a motherly fashion, not that I would know what that was like. _And besides, not three years. Two years nine months. Time passes by quickly._

 _Like I needed a reminder._ A minute's silent passed before I dared myself for the conversation I was not ready to have. _So, about the second half of that dream..._

 _Trauma triggers repressed memories, you already know that._ My inner self was too quick. _Apparently, you had a glimpse of the Safari Zone family vacation, the accident where we lost our parents. Albeit a very different one from Daisy's descriptions of the day._

 _I was barely a year old at the time. Can memories really reach that far back?_

 _Don't ask questions you know the answers to._

 _Then those... voices. Dad and Mom? Huh._

 _And Daisy._

 _And definitely Daisy. The way she described the accident all those years... And I also read the police reports afterwards, she was the only reliable witness, granted she was six at the time but still, the way she had always told it... I imagined everything had gone..._

 _Cleaner?_

 _Yes. That they hadn't... suffered. This was as if it was a... hit?_

 _..._

 _Inner voice? You there?_

 _There's two explanations I have. Either this is just a dream and you're projecting your recent drama to it, making you needlessly doubt the unchanging story of the accident your own sister has told everyone, from police authorities to family members, even gramps, for fifteen years straight. Or..._

 _Or she's been lying all this time._

 _You need to talk to Daisy._

 _I need to talk to Daisy,_ I agreed.

"Mr. Oak, sir? Mr. Oak?" The voice of the second nurse returning with a fresh new gown interrupted my thoughts.

"Blue or Gary. Mr. Oak's the older, less handsome guy," I muttered.

She rolled her eyes at my response. "I'm not calling you a color. You have a visitor and he quite insists upon seeing you, been asking if you were awake yet for quite some time."

"I really don't want to see anyone in this position." I waved my hand up and down over my body barely covered by the clothing. "Tell whoever it is to come another time."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"And why is that?" I asked, intrigued.

"Because he owns the hospital and I don't want to lose my job."

And as if practiced beforehand, on cue entered Obadiah Silph himself.

"Leave us."

The nurses didn't make him repeat his words.

I tried pulling myself up from my bed as Obadiah Silph pulled a chair closer to sit near me, but with a wave of his hand he signaled me to stop. "Please, Mr. Oak, do not discomfort yourself on my behalf," he said with a controlled voice. "I will not take much of your time, and I'm only here to... I am only here to..."

Pity filled my heart when I heard the old man's voice crack, which reminded me the simple fact that this man, this business giant, this billionaire was, _used to be_ , a father, an aging father, who had not only lost his two sons, but also his heirs, his last surviving blood, in last week's tragedy, a tragedy first organized as a celebration. Here was a man on the brink of emotional destruction, and from what I could understand by reading the little pieces of news I had kept track of during my time here, his financial empire wasn't doing well either; too many VIPs lives were risked and lost under the supposed protection of the Silph brand. Stocks were being sold at an alarming rate, and many wondered how long the Silph Company could keep the mightyena aiming to profit from a potential sell at bay.

Yet here was the man himself in person next to me, diligent and respectful as ever, even if he had the look of defeat in his eyes. _What was it Red used to say,_ I thought to myself involuntarily. _Eyes are not windows to the soul, but to despair._

"Mr. Silph," I said too quickly, not waiting on the old man to finish. "I cannot thank you enough for the care your people have put into me this last week, had I known this hospital was funded by your brand, I would have sent thanks through more appropriate channels. I, I know I speak on behalf of also my grandfather when I tell you this Mr. Silph: The Oak family will forever be indebted to yours."

The awed look on old man Silph's face lightened the darkness of his eyes but for a second before they reverted. His hands on my bed side trembled as he responded to my speech. "You Oaks, you shame me, really. My boy, I came here today to thank _you_ , and I do not accept the other way around, no. Young master Oak," He swallowed before continuing. "It is my understanding that Pokemon Trainer Blue has saved many lives of my guests, guests I was supposed to protect. Had you, and young mistress Wiseman, and Mr. Red not been on board that night, I, I shudder to think the repercussions the Silph name would suffer. No, no my boy, I do not accept your thanks. I do not accept the debt you feel you owe me. If anything, it is I who owe you."

With that last remark, Obadiah reached into his pocket, and to my surprise, took out a checkbook of all things. "I, I know I insult you with this," He waved the wad of papers in his hands. "What amount of credits could I offer the Oak fortune already does not exceed, but in truth..." The last part came as a whisper. "This is all I _can_ offer."

His voice picked up again, and a certain, ironic pride could be heard in it. "And I urge you to name your wish quickly, Mr. Oak, for I fear my signature will soon be worthless."

 _This is a great chance to compensate for what we lost when gramps cut us off,_ my inner voice began. _With this, we can bank our jou-_

"Mr. Silph," I said coldly. "You _do_ insult me. Do you think so little of me, my name, to believe I would accept a monetary reward?" I paused, slightly hesitating before continuing. "Or do you believe by doing so, you could relieve your own _guilt_?"

His hands quickly turned to fists, and his face went red as blood rushed. "You dare-"

"YOUR SONS ARE DEAD!" I yelled. The impact my words had were visible, the blood left his face as quickly as it had come, leaving it chalk white.

I mercilessly continued my barrage. "Marc Silph is dead. Jacob Silph is dead. Your company has no future and is facing bankruptcy. And here you are, chasing the smallest of debts. Let me guess, you made the same offer to Alexa and Red too, didn't you?"

Bullseye. From the way his eyes twitched, I could tell I had hit the mark.

"You probably couldn't catch Red, he recovered quickly enough and disappeared shortly after. I'm guessing you did speak with Alexa though. And now me," I sighed. "Let's assume I had accepted your offer. Let's assume you had written a number there, signed it, and left. Then what? Free of the last remaining obligations your honor demanded be paid, would it be poison, or hanging, Mr. Silph?"

This time I truly caught him off-guard. "Wha- What?" he stammered.

"Do not, _do not_ , tell me I've misinterpreted that look you have, Mr. Silph," I said cruelly. "I've seen it far too many times in my adolescence years on my sister's face. So, I'm asking how would you do it, Mr. Silph, poison or rope? Or, wait, drowning, isn't it? Closest way to feel how your sons felt. A better way would be finding a wild mon and-"

"STOP!" The old man yelled. "In the name of Arceus, I beg you, stop..."

And this time I did. I gave the old man a good minute to whimper and cry, I gave him a brief time, the only time, he had had since the incident to _mourn_. And I knew he had needed this, because I too was raised in a similar way, I too knew the burden of a name, the burden of aristocracy, where the private life was readied to be shred to pieces by the people who looked up to us elite. And I too knew what was expected of us in times of emergency: Stability.

There was no way of confirming it, but I knew it in my bones, I knew it as well as I knew myself, that ever since the S.S. Anne incident, Mr. Silph had done everything; he had made the proper apologies to the right people, paid the funeral expenses of those lost and hospital fees of those injured, done PR meetings within his company, he had done everything he could to make sure everything seemed fine when it wasn't, he had done everything he could... but mourn.

And more than the actual pain of grief, I knew it was the absence of it that drove people to end it all. I knew it from Daisy's early years, I knew it from gramps after the first few years. I might have been too young to remember that feeling of loss, but I wasn't that young enough to forget how it had affected those around me.

But we Oaks had it lucky compared to the Silphs; Daisy had me, and gramps had the both of us, not to mention the numerous responsibilities he had to Indigo. Bouncing back was easier for them than it would be for Obadiah Silph.

But damned if I was going to let another human death happen when I was around.

"Give your family the funeral they deserve," I said. "Mourn them properly. _And then get back to work._ Find your next of kin. Adopt, if you have to. But man up, for the Silph line has been too much and too long integrated with this nation to end now."

"And never forget, Mr. Silph," I whispered between his whimpers. "We are the elite. Our obligations to the people outweigh our own pain."

 _Never forget,_ I silently completed the sentence in my thoughts. _That is my motive. That is my drive._

 _That is why I will be champion._

))(())((

There were a number of candidates for the title "most dangerous place in Indigo".

The Lake of Rage, a known breeding ground for gyarados, was certainly one. Mt. Silver, closed to all but league officials and sixteen-badgers, where most omega level beasts made their home, was another. Compared to these two, the Safari Zone was almost tame, but still arguably dangerous. As was the Victory Road cave.

But the truth was, not many human casualties occurred in these places, and for that we had the Indigo Rangers Organization to thank. After training school, after either sufficient gym training or badge numbers, a career path most trainers chose, rangers differed from Indigo's military and police force in one most important way: Instead of battling armed humans or trainers, rangers fought against beasts. They had one foremost goal and duty only, to guard the borders between humanity and the wild.

And naturally, it made sense that only the best of trainers within the I.R.O. were assigned to patrol the likes of Mt. Silver. A hundred sixteen-badgers patrolled the mountain regularly, twice that number of ten-badgers stood guard near. The I.R.O.'s central office in Fuchsia collaborated regularly with Koga's gym to assure visitor safety in the Safari Zone, and expert water and flying type trainers always watched over the Lake of Rage. And when not opened because of the Championship Games, Victory Road's monsters were held back by eight-badger rangers.

So, with Indigo's best-of-best trainers, second only to leaders and the four, keeping steady watch over these fortresses of the wild, any incident that occurred could be rightfully downplayed to simple bad luck; which was why this snorlax incident was taking too much screen time. People weren't used to warnings of a high-caliber, untrained duo of monsters roaming freely near the largest city in Kanto, and were rightfully alarmed.

But I digressed, the topic was the most dangerous place in Indigo. And if one were to define danger by a percentage of either loss of or injury to human life due to unnatural occurrences within a specific time frame, well, even Celadon City with its citizens' known lifestyle of debauchery ranked higher than the aforementioned places. So, could one argue that cities like Celadon, Goldenrod, and Cianwood, or isles like the Sevii chain, all places mostly human inhabited, but had the largest number of deaths due to drug overdose, gang wars, and intentional trained pokemon attacks were more dangerous than Mt. Silver or Lake of Rage?

Some would say yes; Red for sure, he would prefer dealing with the wild rather than humans. Me, I honestly believed no. But not that I would find the wild inhabited parts of Indigo worthy the title "most dangerous" either.

No, for me to say "this, this place is the one place I would never step foot into, fuck that"; that place could never belong primarily to either the wild or humanity.

No, for me to say those words, that place would have to be an _equal_ composition of both sides; a place where the worst of both the wild and humanity lived, a place where man-eating beasts were free to hunt and where humans could commit illegal activities safely without fear of retribution.

In short, for me, the most dangerous place in Indigo was where I happened to fucking stand right fucking now, in the motherfucking Ruins of fucking Alph.

Alph, a city in ancient Johto that predated my ancestor Leonal Oak, supposedly a city of wonders and miracles, where the blind marveled at the artistry of painters, the mute spoke poetry, and the deaf cried tears of joy at the music played by talented bards. Personally, I never bought into such exaggerated tales, especially if it came from Johtons, who were a more romantic folk compared to us Kantons, but whatever, since all records were lost and the recovery of historical relics was near impossible due to reasons I would explain later, rumors and tales were the only backstory Alph had.

One thing was undeniable though, Alph was definitely the largest and strongest human settlement of its time. And how did we know this?

Because the wild tore it apart.

Red used to always argue in history class that there was no way to be sure the wild was responsible, to which I would reply, "If it looks like a ducklett, swims like a ducklett, and quacks like a ducklett, then it probably is a ducklett; there's no force other than the wild in this world that can bring that sort of destruction." And that would shut him up, but I could see he wasn't convinced.

If I were to be entirely objective though, I supposed he was right, with no records we couldn't be a hundred percent sure. But what else could have brought that scale of destruction, heh, maybe like most Johtons believed, frickn' Ho-Oh and its three emissaries? Dumb.

In any case, maybe the details escaped us, but the destruction itself, that was there. Covering the triangular area between Goldenrod, Azalea, and Violet, the massive landscape was full of the long-collapsed ruins of great palaces and temples, simple households, and fortresses and watchtowers, each covered in moss maybe a hundred times over, with viney roots of strong trees breaking through stone and marble. The wild that once invaded never left, and the grassy terrain welcomed new nests of pokemon. The fairy mists played tricks on human visitors' minds, the rain water accumulated within the stone debris and trees built lakes for water types to drag their prey in, and the psychic species' high-psionic influence could always be felt. The reports of the few ranger and military expeditions that had been made in the ruins told there was no reported sightings of omega levels, but more than plenty of alpha and high beta level pokemon, perhaps even in more concentration than any other place in Indigo.

And another species with high-concentration in the area was of criminal variety.

With its close proximity to three of Johto's main cities, was it any surprise that drug pushers and weapons smugglers chose to stack their cashes here? The ruins provided great hiding spots, the wild made their merchandise less likely to be discovered, and the bureaucratic disagreement between the three cities' police forces and the I.R.O. over whose jurisdiction the land fell under was exactly what those who operated outside the law needed. Sure, their lives were a constant struggle against the wild there, but like I had mentioned before, there were no omega levels present, so the fighting chance was fair for both sides. And even if a gang were to lose numbers to the wild, recruitment options were plenty due to the three cities' outcasts migrating towards the ruins, especially those from Violet where the Chief Police Station was located. The disowned punk, the unwanted bum and homeless, the drug addicts, they all had to find shelter from the cities that wanted their arrest, or at the least, their absence, and the ruins allowed these people a free zone.

Even before Agatha the ruins were a problem, and time had only made it worse. Generations of criminals toughened by the wild and knew the area's twists and mazes like the palm of hand, plus the wild pokemon accustomed to humans and their fighting strategies made the ruins difficult for the league to cleanse. And frankly, the league hadn't really tried; the words of Violet Leader Falkner, "If there's a beedrill in the room, I'd rather know where it is," perfectly summarized the official approach to the situation. By keeping the leash on the ruins relatively loose, the league at least guaranteed that Indigo's majority of criminal parties were away from the public and confined to a place where wild pokemon did the police's job of eliminating them. The league looked great on paper with low crime rates within city walls and was therefore happy, the criminals safe from arrest were happy, heck, even the wild pokemon were happy since they regularly feasted on man-meat. And so what if valuable historical research was thrown under the bus because the ruins offered no favorable condition for archaeologists and historians to study and the league offered no funding or solution to solve the problem, as long as the masses were content, right?

Ugh.

I really, really, _really_ hated this place that showed the ugliest parts of our world. I pushed a tree branch in front of me out of the way and reached a clearing surrounded by broken down stone pillars. Throwing my bag down, I called back towards trees, "Let's take a break."

With a thud and snap, my heracross Invictus emerged. He was the one who would be acting as a companion for me today instead of Hope, honestly, this place was a bit out of her league. I had a sneaking suspicion Argo would love the ruins, but the problem with a seabed pokemon was that out of water, he was mostly stationary, it would be impossible for him to travel. Plus, I still wasn't comfortable using him, fifteen days were not enough for us to get familiar, the possibility of an icicle stabbing me in the back was too great.

 _Has it really been that many days?_ I thought to myself, but the date on my dex didn't lie. Two days after Obadiah Silph's visit I had been discharged, and since my loving gramps had cut me off the family fortune, I had no money at all and had been therefore stuck in Vermilion. I couldn't have paid someone to fly, shadow, or port me. My pidgeotto Sky wasn't large enough to carry me, also I didn't have a flying license anyway. I had briefly thought of borrowing from Daisy, wanting to speak with her in any case, but learned she was stationed in Sevii-Two and was out of reach. But thinking of her had reminded me; she had already lent me her alakazam prior the S.S. Anne event. A quick mental conversation with the pokemon had told me route no:36, just outside of Violet City, was a place where it had ported with Daisy before and was still in its memory. Which was almost perfect, because the next beast I had wanted to capture was in the ruins, I could walk the way from there to here, which I had done.

All this was _almost_ perfect, because it still didn't solve my lack of funds. The equipment I currently had was what had survived my encounter with Argo; I was lacking on pokeballs, antidotes, berries, and all sorts of recourses with no chance of replenishing them. My hunting skills were sufficient enough to keep me fed, and Vic was capable of fetching his own food, but truth be told, wandering these dangerous parts in search of physical clues of the rumors that brought me here was not a task I was happily taking part in. Especially since my body was still weak, for the last few weeks I had been hospitalized far too much, and the hiking, hunting, and camping activities of the last six days were straining my muscles, reminding me I had led a far too stationary lifestyle for a trainer these recent days.

I sat on a larger piece of stone and checked my bag for some leftover furret I had hunted the other day. Vic meanwhile did a quick tour around the area checking for threats. Finding none, he took his place across me in the clearing and began performing his second dan swords dance katas. My heart swelled with pride as I saw him, the growth Vic had shown under my tutelage was remarkable; before he was a wild, poison-addicted killer, and now he was a wild, poison-addicted killer that fought more in control, more efficient. I didn't want to brag, but as Vic was right now, there were very, very few trained pokemon the league could offer that he could not defeat in a one-on-one physical match, and once he ascended to third dan, I was sure there would be none left.

My picked-up morale quickly fell once I realized I had underestimated my hunger and how much I had eaten the other night, the remaining furret was barely a mouthful. And what was worse, I had to eat it cold, I couldn't risk lighting a fire this deep in the ruins, if the more dangerous wild pokemon did not take care of me first, the smoke would attract the human mobsters. Disappointed and frustrated, I tried clearing my mind by once again reading the info on my dex that had brought me here.

" _New drug, new gang? From the world of guerilla journalism, Reed Lucky brings you a story to chill the bones. A homeless family of five caught returning to Goldenrod from Alph try explaining their plight. 'The demon feasts,' cries the elderly and mentally unstable Ricky. 'It took El and Jo, it won't take me!' The El and Jo in mention are the bodies of the twin children wrapped in cloth in their parents' arms (_ _Click_ _for images. WARNING – the images may be too graphic for younger readers). Blood tests show the family has a history of drug usage, and the parents are under arrest for suspicion of forcing drugs on adolescents, but an officer on the inside tells a different story. 'I've been working the Goldenrod underworld for ten years,' our source claims. 'I have seen all sorts of effects drugs leave on people, and I've seen nothing that can leave two children in that condition.' The police remain silent on the question whether this might be a new drug aiming to enter the market."_

"Ugh." I tried not vomiting, the images were disturbing at the least. "Whatever did that, that is not a chemical." El and Jo looked as if something had drained the life out of them, they were nothing but skin and bones, everything useful in between squeezed out. My guess, the police knew what did this, there was only one thing known to man that could do this, but they were covering it up, for they did not want to travel the ruins to hunt the perpetrator.

Cowards. Shaking my head, I scrolled further down my notes.

" _Miracle escape! Rogue archaeologist Dr. Daniel Lowell recounts how he survived the Alph experience. 'I was and still am frustrated with the lack of interest the Plateau shows to this topic' says Dr. Lowell. "All of the priceless artifacts lying in those ruins, all we could learn from them! I am not the kind of person cowered by gangsters and wild beasts, so I took matters into my own hand. Hired a duo of trainers for protection, packed my gear, and after a week or so of preparation, was ready to explore the unknown. I explored the ruins freely for near a month, a paper will be published soon! Unfortunately, tragedy struck near the end, a dive to a cave-ruin resulted in me stumbling accidentally into what I could only assume was a heroin stash. I tried leaving, but saw from a distance my two protectors being butchered by hoodlums at the entrance where they awaited my return. Having no other choice, I ran for my life, alas the vile men were too quick on their feet and caught up soon. Cornered, I am not ashamed to admit I begged for mercy, when the most curious phenomenon occurred; all the men collapsed on their feet and fell into a deep slumber. I did not linger long, I ran for my life and…'"_

"Yada, yada, yada..." I muttered. "Nobody cares how you holed up and survived on rain water and girafarig poo until a trainer found you. What's important is _this_." I tapped my finger on the word "slumber".

"What do you think happened Vic?" I shouted towards him, which he ignored with a grunt. _Hope was much more of a conversationalist,_ I thought.

"I'll tell you what then," I said. "Isn't it curious that only the archaeologist remained awake? That every other human fell asleep? How does that happen? Unless…" I pointed at a picture of Lowell. "The article doesn't tell us everything, but we can guess Dr. Lowell here was wearing a _gas mask._ He says he just reemerged from a cave dive, it would be stupid of him to do so without one. And I'm willing to bet, alarmed and panicked as he was, he still wore it during the chase, finding no time to take it off. So, if we combine this info with our first story, then..." I looked up to see if Vic was following, and realized he was more interested in sharpening his horn against a tree.

"Suit yourself." I shrugged and kept reading.

" _New year's psionic readings, top ten places in Indigo with psychic residue, and you'll never guess where just joined the list! 1. Lavender City: Long known a breeding ground for ghost, psychic, and dark types, is it any surprise this gruesome city tops our list? 2. Sevii-Three, Berry Forest: A coupling forest for hypno and drowzee, minors should beware visit. 3. Ilex Forest…"_ I scrolled further down until I found number ten. _"10. Ruins of Alph: A surprise jump from last year where this place ranked fifteenth, one can only assume the year has been fruitful for the psychic types inhabiting these ruins!"_

"The list is from a stupid magazine site, but the sources link to the I.R.O.'s main site," I said to no one in particular. "These measurements are true, so how on earth can a place jump five ranks at once in one year? Psychic and ghost types carry the most psionic potential of all types, and given their long life span and low breeding rate, I find it unlikely they birthed that many baby monsters in only a year. Nah, something else happened, either a powerful psychic outsider entered this habitat, or..." I grinned to myself. "Something evolved in the last year, something monstrous that put this place in this list."

"And finally," I continued my rambling. "There's this piece of news..."

" _Water shortage in Alph? Rangers have stopped too many near dehydrated wild water pokemon marching out from the ruins and on their way towards the cities near…"_

"Something's not only pushing water pokemon out of their habitat, but also claiming their territory for itself," I explained. "and mind you, these are not wooper or poliwag that are leaving, but feraligatr, swampert, and golduck, pokemon high up the food chain. So, combining all of these clues together, what do you think we're dealing with, Vic?"

Kra-aaaack.

With a deafening crash, the tree Vic was practicing on finally broke and fell. He looked proud upon the ruin he brought.

"Exactly," I said. "Now, pay close attention, because you're going to be instrumental in catching this guy." I reached into my bag, pulling out the one thing that would either save or destroy us in the upcoming battle. Vic's bug eyes widened as he saw what I had pulled out. "Here's the plan…"

))(())((

" _Champion Blue! Champion Blue, you've defeated the fourteenth challenger since your fifty-year reign, any comments on the match?"_

" _Champion Blue, are the rumors true that Elite Four member Red will be retiring, and your son is ready to take his place?"_

" _Any word from the first Indigon settlements in Alola?"_

" _In only fifty years, crime rate is near zero percent, expansion against the wild is successful, and humanity lives it golden age, how do you manage Champion Blue?"_

" _Alright, alright, save the questions for the press conference later. Shoo you all, shoo," says the spiky-haired blonde woman. Her blue eyes turn towards me, and she leans forwards to whisper, "Red's in the throne room waiting, Mr. Oak, seemed urgent."_

" _Fifty years, Daisy, and you still call me that." I chuckle as we close the door on the crowd behind us. "It's Blue now, nobody has called me Oak since that day. Why do you still insist, sis?"_

" _Sister privilege, kid. Besides, it's always good to remember your roots." She points to the portrait of Leonal Oak as we walk together through the Hall of Champions._

" _Oh, also, gramps called, he congratulates you on the latest victory. And asks some extra funding for the Pallet branch of Oak Laboratories." Daisy says._

Wait, hadn't it been fifty years? How was gramps still alive?

" _-ary? Gary?"_

" _Huh?" I mutter, distracted._

" _You passed out for a second there, kid. You okay?" Daisy asks, worried._

" _I'm… fine," I lied. "The treasury's full of unspent money, so I don't see any reason to decline gramps' request. I'll call him in the afternoon. Now sis, if you'll excuse me..." I enter the throne room, where my childhood friend, my best friend, is waiting._

" _One last thing, Gary," my sister calls. "I just wanted to say… You did the name good, Gary. Mom and dad would be proud of you." She hesitates for a second. "I'm proud of you."_

 _I smile genuinely. "Appreciate it, sis. Now get out of here, and give my favorite nieces and nephews kisses."_

 _Grinning, Daisy shuts the door as she leaves, and suddenly it's only me and him in the room, alone. I turn towards my childhood friend, my best friend, and ask-_

He looked exactly the same as when we were teenagers? And so did Daisy?

- _if there were any news on the rockets._

" _Completely and thoroughly eliminated." Red grins. "Our spies proved worthful, we captured every single one of the terrorists. I personally caught their leader myself and brought him to the Plateau, he awaits your interrogation."_

" _Good," I say. "This is justice fifty years in the waiting, it's time we brought some consolation for the Silph family." A sudden sadness tugs at my heart. "I suppose you'll be leaving the four and returning to your wife, Melanie, now that our deal is complete?"_

" _Hmm, maybe, maybe not. Have you already found my replacement?" he asks._

" _As if there's any replacement to Pokemon Trainer Red, deadliest trainer in the world," I answer._

" _Second deadliest," he retorts automatically, "you beat me fair and square fifty years ago, and you've kept to your word ever since that if I stuck with you, with the league backing me, I'd have my revenge on the rockets. And so I have." He looks at me uncomfortably._

" _What is it, brother?" I ask._

" _You've always said you would do it," he says in a monotone voice. "That you would inspire people, save them, redeem them. That you would bring stability and safety. And you've done it. And here I find myself wondering…"_

" _Wondering what, Red?" I urge him._

" _What's next in Pokemon Trainer Blue's life, and… if it's perhaps worthwhile to stay and see it." He laughs. "I find myself… inspired? Is that the right word?"_

 _I can't help it, I hug him and-_

This wasn't real. None of it was. It couldn't be.

Because no matter what the future held, there was no timeline where Red would accept serving under _me_.

I felt the tears forming in my shut eyelids, and in my sleep, I muttered the words, "Hurry, Invictus."

 _-clap my hand on his back. "You're staying!"_

" _If you promise to stay interesting," he says. "Perhaps, I was wrong, perhaps humans were never boring…"_

Now that I knew this was a dream, the fakeness of it was obvious, the cheesiness of it, the one-dimensional happiness it emitted. I hated the pokemon that made me see this, but secretly, I admired the power of it, keeping me asleep even when I knew I was in a dream, keeping the construct going even though I was aware it was all fake, fighting my body and mind to force the dream upon me as reality; this power was other-worldly.

And if my heracross did not hurry, I would soon lose to it.

" _We have to celebrate," I cry. "You, your wife, and your mother; our place, tonight. I'll call gramps and Daisy. The children will be so happy, they haven't seen each other in…"_

Invictus...

" _Arceus, Blue, slow down," Red says. "I haven't even made my final decision-"_

Vic...

" _Nonsense," I cut him mid-sentence. "You're just playing coy. Now, let's discuss the futu-"_

"AAAAAAARGGGGHHH!"

My cry was primal, full of rage. I felt the heavy pressure in my mind lessening, however, by no means disappearing, yet the hold the foreign mind had was now weakened enough that I could break myself free from the illusion. I wiped the tears in my eyes with one hand and stood up, prepared for the battle.

But not the horror.

I felt it under my shoe before I saw it; the crushed human skull, and the accompanying skeleton lying in front of it. The little grown grass covering the field I was in did nothing to hide the remains of dead pokemon and people, and the fresher, less disturbed bodies looked similar to the pictures of El and Jo: Bones covered in skin or fur, with no meat in between.

Next, I noticed the stillness and quiet around me, not a single bird chirped, not a single bug buzzed, any noise one expected to hear in a wild covered place like the ruins, all were cancelled, further confirming the idea this place was an avoided dead zone.

And the reason stood in right in front of me, with Invictus' horn stabbed right into its body.

It was grotesquely thick, in other words, fat. Its size, twice as tall as Invictus, should have been impressive on its own enough, but what I couldn't keep my eyes off was the incredible, unbelievable number of heads that surrounded the top of its trunk, just below where the huge leaves sprouted. The regular number for its species was three, exceptional trainers could train those with four, and Leader Erika had a record-breaking, five headed one. Here, here was a _six_ headed beast, one never seen or heard of before.

And by the way all six heads were grimacing, they were giving their all to keep Invictus from breaking their body in half. That shift of focus in attention was what had allowed me to wake up.

The purple eyes of Invictus showed my plan was working. It was obvious from the clues that we were dealing with a dream-eater, a pokemon that feasted on its prey's lifeforce as it slept. The regular culprits for such an act would be hypno and haunter, but if we were dealing with either of the two species here, then Dr. Lowell too would have been put asleep together with his chasers; the sleep inducing hypnosis these two species performed worked on a psychic level. The fact that a gas mask had prevented it made me suspicious that our culprit used sleep spores instead. Adding to this suspicion the facts of sudden growth in psionic residue and migration of water pokemon led me to believe a recently evolved, very, very gluttonous and strong, possibly mutated species was now in the area.

And the exeggutor in front of me checked all the boxes.

"Enjoying Vic's mind, you fat freak?" I asked sarcastically as I made my way towards the exeggutor. The heads on my side of the body fixed their look on me immediately, and when Invictus pushed forwards and dug his horn deeper, the eyes winced in pain.

"Yeah, it's hard to control an addict's mind, isn't it? I imagine it's not pleasant trying to find some sort of coherent thought you can focus on in all that dreamy, rainbow covered murkiness," I continued. "Once it was pretty obvious I would be dealing with a grass-psychic dual type, the first thing I did was pump Vic's blood here with poison." I took out and shook the empty vial in my hand, and a pleasurable moan came out of my heracross' mouth.

"Isn't it just great how venom not only just augments his strength, but also increases his adrenaline secretion, leaving him in a permanently excited state where he can't be put to sleep?" I put my hand on the exeggutor's trunk, its - her, I realized – body trembled slightly, but when Invictus dug deeper in, she stopped.

"Many think addicts are a bother, but me, I personally find some charm in them." I looked up to the three heads near facing me with a hateful expression. "But enough about Vicky here, let's talk about you, you gluttonous fuck."

"I'm guessing you were a sextet of exeggcute, each already relatively powerful, but there was a bit of mixed blood in there, wasn't there? Maybe one of your heads had a distant hypno relative? Just guessing. In either case, that's how you grew this big - and fat, if I may add." On my signal Invictus dug even deeper, and greenish blood mixed with water gushed out the wound. The exeggutor shook violently, but the prong on Vic's horn held the coconut pokemon in place. Ignoring the action, I continued.

"Normally, when a hive of exeggcute evolve into an exeggutor, they need immense amounts of nutrition, that's why you don't see exeggutor with more than three heads around, the grass type body can literally not afford anymore mouths to feed. There's only so much nutrition in sunlight and water after all." I explained. "But you, thanks to your mixed heritage, you found a way around that problem, didn't you? Yes to sunlight and water and all that regular shit, but you also began draining the lifeforce of all these poor beings around here by utilizing a deadly combo of sleep powders and dream-eating. That's how you grew so big, that's how you grew so strong."

 _Powerful psionic potential with a unique ability added, plus all the annoying grass type crap; sleep powders, stun spores, leech seeds, and vines. Truly, a useful jack-of-all-trades, this one here,_ I thought to myself.

"Now normally when it comes to recruiting pokemon as strong as you, I have a whole routine. I beat them myself at what they excel at and make them accept me master, willingly, because I know real strength comes from there. That's how I got Vic here, that's how I got Argo - you'll meet him later. With you though..." Try as I might, I couldn't hide the disgust in my voice. "I'll do no such thing. You see, Vic might be crazy, and Argo might be a psycho, but they both have a code of honor they follow. You," I waved my hand around this makeshift cemetery we were in, "are nothing like them. You're just a pathetic, insatiable parasite sucking the life out of everything within a certain radius. And so, you'll be dealt with as the disgusting piece of slob you are."

I turned and began walking. "I'm going leave Vic here now alone with you. He has instructions to beat you to the inch of your life, but not kill. And when you come to your senses, when your grass type body heals itself, Vic's gonna take another swing at you. Then another." At this point of my speech, I deliberately lowered my mental guards and pulled out the image of the twin children, El and Jo, in my mind. "This will continue until Vic gets off the poison high… And then, only then, will I capture you, and you better get in that ball the first try, because I only have a few pokeballs left and no money at all. And if you _don't_ get in, well, I guess you'll have to meet Argo sooner than intended. We'll just test the range of your spores against his spears..."

I left the clearing, the exeggutor's both physical and mental screams still ringing in my head.

And try as I did, I simply couldn't muster a single ounce of pity for the pokemon.

Might have been because the first skull I stepped on when I woke up, it had been a _human infant's._

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **Long time no update, apologies. Long story short, I decided to listen to my reviewers and friends, and spent my time fixing all the grammar and dialogue** **mistakes of the previous chapters before posting a new one, that's 3047 quotation marks and 127k words. The revised chapters will be uploaded during this weekend. (NOTHING storywise has been changed or added.)**

 **In case the timeline is confusing, this story takes place after the S.S. Anne event but before Red won his third badge, while he was still training in Diglett's Cave.** **Invictus' and all heracross' biology regarding poison and adrenaline was explained in the first Blue chapter, and how mutations worked was briefly touched upon in Chapter 7 of Red, when reading Misty's bio, in case anyone claims exeggutor don't learn dream eater naturally. Oh, and dream eater is a move that drains an asleep pokemon's life, if you're not familiar with the games.**

 **Exeggutor is in my opinion Blue's signature pokemon in the games, there is no other pokemon that he uses in every version of himself in every main series game; from the good ole days of red and blue to the newer Alolan Islands, Blue has always had an exeggutor in every team. I tried to give it justice and spin it in a way as it would come as a surprise, but I might've dropped too many hints, eh, whatever, hope you enjoyed.**

 **So far, our Oak boy has; Jolteon, Heracross, Cloyster, Exegguttor, and a bunch of bench pokemon. Based on the hints on cores I've dropped, can anyone guess the last two pokemon? Mental hugs and congratulatory cookies to anyone who do.**

 **Next chapter: End of month, in two weeks. (This time for real.)**


	18. Chapter 14: Edge

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

Edge:

My first thought was: _Isn't this overkill?_

Then came the second: _It's way too crowded in here._

The cuffs binding my arms and legs had conductive extension cords attached, the ends of which were being held in mouth by the two luxio; ready to discharge their load and incapacitate me at my slightest misbehavior. To my right was a sceptile, its tail pointed at my chest, and hovering behind the chair across me was an aegislash; though its presence emitted a less aggressive and more defensive aura. My guess, unlike the other beasts, its primary duty was to protect the league mindspector rather than subdue me.

Aside myself and the seated Mr. Pierce, the mindspector, there were four other people present, all of them Indigo's finest policemen and women. They all stood at my left, fingers never leaving their pokebelts, and eyes never leaving me. So, in total there were six humans and four pokemon barely fitting in a small, cramped room, all - except me - trigger ready.

To be honest, any less precautions, and I would feel insulted. After all, I was the famous Pokemon Trainer Red, arguably the most brilliant strategist of a newer generation of trainers… and also a cold-blooded killer.

Or so they thought.

Which I had been so sure I could've convinced otherwise. Now however, my chances looked quite slim.

In hindsight, this wasn't one of my most brilliant plans.

 _Damn those rockets._

"Pokemon Trainer Red, you stand here charged with the murder of Pokemon Trainer Nolan, and the theft of his issued starter, the charmeleon codenamed Dante," began Mr. Pierce reading from the paper he held in his two hands. He took a moment to readjust the glasses on his nose before continuing. "Your right for a jury trial has been suspended by Judge Adelson, and will only be reinstated should the results of today's mindspection prove inconclusive. Should you be found innocent; you and your team will be set free immediately. Should you be found guilty; your trainer-class privileges will be taken, you will be sent to Naval Rock, where you will serve your life sentence, and your team, with the sole exception of the charmeleon codenamed Dante, will be executed."

He looked at me over his glasses. "I trust your lawyer, Mr. Gold, has gone over with you the details surrounding the reasons for this verdict?"

I nodded on the outside, but on the inside, I was still confused. Ever since my training in Diglett's Cave, ever since I had decided on using Dante against Surge, I had suspected the rockets trying to pin this murder on me, and against that I had taken my counter-measures, but they had all depended on me getting a fair trial, not an immediate mindspection. My state provided attorney had tried his best to explain it all to me a week ago when I was still being held in a correctional facility in Vermilion.

"Because of the scarcity of trained psychic pokemon capable of fully comprehending and transmitting human memories, it's rare for a judge to decide on mindspection and bypass a jury, especially for a case dating over three months. I have no idea why Judge Adelson insisted on this, despite both the prosecution's and my objections," Mr. Nathan Gold had admitted. "You'll be ported to Cerulean in a few days, where an official mindspector will be waiting. The good news is, Mr. Red, a mindspection speeds up a complex case as this one quite significantly; if you're innocent, I reckon you'll be out the same day. The bad news is, if you're not, well, there's no way of hiding it, there's no convincing a jury otherwise."

He had finished ominously. "I truly hope you are innocent, Mr. Red. Naval Rock is… not a place for someone as young as yourself."

Which was basically why I was confused. I _was_ innocent. A mindspection would definitely prove that. But reliving the memory of that night, it would also reveal to the league the existence of the rockets, for they were the actual murderers of Trainer Nolan. And judging from Butch and his lackeys executing Nolan for using the drug X in a public match, I had always assumed the rockets valued their secrecy over all else.

The plan I had built in Diglett's Cave was centered on the fact that if anyone would recognize Dante as Nolan's starter in my match against Surge, it would be the rockets. They would be the only people who could make the connection between my charmeleon and Nolan's, and they would be the only ones who could get away by sticking a baseless murder allegation against me, because they were the only ones aside myself who knew Nolan was dead. It really was brilliant; leaving the police an anonymous tip, revealing the remains of Nolan's body from wherever it was hidden to someplace near Cerulean where the cops could easily find, and voila, all that was left was watching the only witness to their criminal activities be punished and silenced forever for a murder they had originally committed. A small investigation would prove my Dante was actually Nolan's Dante and that I had lost against Nolan in a regional tournament. From there, the case of a jealous trainer, blinded by ambition, ambushing and killing a fellow competitor to steal his prized possession could be easily built.

And hence we were here today.

Except something must have had gone wrong for the rockets, because the judge had decided on a mindspection instead of a trial. Maybe the inside connections of the rockets weren't as strong as I had initially suspected?

"Trainer Red, are you with us?" The mindspector's voice brought me back from my thoughts.

I sighed and nodded. Either way, nothing really changed much for me. I had prepared a surprise for the rockets in the case of a jury trial, but this was much better. The fact that my mind's privacy would be invaded disturbed me a bit, but it wasn't something I couldn't live with.

"Excellent. Please lower all mental barriers, refusing to do so will result in at best extreme discomfort, and at worst incurable mental trauma." Mr. Pierce waited a moment before continuing. "Are you ready, Trainer Red?"

I nodded again.

"I will now release the pokemon that will conduct today's mindspection." And he removed a golden pokeball from the suitcase at his feet.

Click.

The red light materialized, and I came face to face with green cat-eyes.

The pokemon stood on two small feet atop the desk. The blue fur proved it was a male, and the white tips of the twin tails twitched slightly as the pokemon tilted his head sideways. By far the most interesting part of the alpha level psychic pokemon was his shut tight ears, the long ear flaps were bent right at the middle and covered the entrances to the ear canal from sight.

 _The constraint pokemon…_

"Begin."

It hit me like a ten-ton truck.

I gritted my teeth as I suppressed my instinctual reaction to defend against the meowstic's psychic assault; but I knew even the notion of defense was arrogance, there was no resistance I could muster against _this._ Who had I been kidding all this time with my mental training against Paul, I was _nothing_ against a _true_ psychic, and foolishly, I had deemed myself ready for Sabrina, this was, this was-

 _I could see her face, the woman was holding me in her arms, and we were outside, perhaps on a boat for the cries of wingull were unmistakable, and I was hungry so I cried, and she carefully brought my mouth to her breast, and-_

"Way too far. Something more recent."

 _No fucking shit,_ I wanted to yell out loud, but before I could muster the words-

 _Across me, the Lieutenant had entered. He climbed the trainer's deck in no hurry, each step filled with the assuredness of a man who had seen-_

"Yes, close. Follow that pattern."

"Uuurgh," I unconsciously grunted, and I braced myself for-

" _Here, yours." Misty lazily threw a small object at me which I caught in the air. I looked at the Cascade Badg-_

"Hold that thought as a base, and fast forward from there."

 _IttookaweekforPaultorecoverandevenafterthathestillsupportednastyburnmarksthatwouldbepermanentaccordingtodoctorsIwouldlovetotestthatclaimwithacertainfountainIknewofbutdidn'twanttospendanymoretimewastedCallidorawashealedfullyshehadnopermanentdamageandnowoutofherballshewassittingnexttomeunderthebridgeMelan-_

 _Almost there,_ screamed an uninvaded part of my brain. _This is the night we celebrate our victory drunk, and then they'll see the rockets-_

Blank.

 _Wha-_

"Trainer Red, you've been warned not to resist." The mindspector's voice was barely audible.

 _I'm not! I don't understand, what's happenin-_

"After this point, the league is not responsible for injuries on your psych." His tone leaked bureaucracy, formality, the cold voice of justice. He gave the order without hesitation, unaware of what he was about to unleash.

 _No, no, NO, NO, no,_ I silently begged, instinctually sensing the trouble about to brew. _Stop…_

"Push through."

The meowstic bent forwards, let out a small snarl, and touched his forehead to mine.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

My cry was inhuman, primal, and what made it worse was it had two sources. As if he had touched a live wire, the meowstic was thrown away from me like a rag doll, and hit the wall across. A splatter of blood remained from where his head had made initial contact as the crippled body slid down.

All the while he too cried out my echoed pain.

"What the-"

All the pokemon, all the men in the room.

They were too late.

 _A pokemon was walking on water, one I saw only in children's story books._

One of the meowstic's ears popped open.

"Stop it!"

 _It traveled on four legs, and was blue with white diamond shaped patterns on._

"NO!" The scream was from me. "NO! NO! NO! I DON'T WANT TO- NOT AGAIN!"

The luxio charged up, the sceptile tensed its tail. They were ready to kill me, but the unleashed telekinetic power of the meowstic was violent and chaotic; it struck without cause and-

 _A violet mane and two white tails came from its back._

Suddenly all the people in the room, all the pokemon, they were all lifted in the air, all spare me, and even in my burning pain and blurry vision, I could hear their chests panting, the pressure of the external force too great on their fragile chests, the psionic power crushing them, crumbling them, I heard bones snapping, the chair of Mr. Pierce exploding with its shards blasting all over, when-

 _It looked at me with cold, calculating eyes._

From below, a sneaky attempt from the aegislash proved fruitful as shadowy hands gripped the unconscious meowstic on both sides, dragging the beast closer to the sword end, the cut would be clean, it would be swift, but-

 _I knew what I just saw and almost wished I hadn't. That was something that wasn't supposed to exist, it couldn't._

Now pure fear and instinct had taken hold of the psychic pokemon, and he had sensed the danger to his existence, so a focused psionic blast pushed against the ghost pokemon, dispersing its immaterial hands, and sending an invisible bolt towards the main body. The shield-

 _The very panicked reactions of both Callidora and Pikachu proved it was true._

Came up just in time, a dreadful gong sound echoed, followed by the crash of multiple bodies against the floor – in an attempt to take out the aegislash, the meowstic had let go of the others. Not that they would be of any help; the two luxio were all but dead while the sceptile was definitely so, and blood dripped out the nostrils of the policemen. The mindspector was the only one who could hold his ground, and he bravely threw the golden pokeball clutched in his hand towards the meowstic-

 _I had just seen one of the legendary beasts._

But it broke midair, the psychic power catching and destroying it. But the act bought the aegislash a few seconds, seconds too precious to waste. It lunged without hesitation, the sword end directed at the constraint pokemon's forehead, and-

 _I had just seen Sui-_

Made contact.

The unnatural pressure surrounding us disappeared almost too quickly, and the bars imprisoning me in my memori- in my _dreams_ shattered. The telepathic interference broken, I tasted blood in my mouth when I barely found the strength to lift my head and try make sense of the room surrounding me through tear filled eyes.

"Sir, sir!" The voices of reinforcements boomed behind me as an entire squad of cops and their pokemon made their way through the door. Their response time was actually commendable, it had been less than half a minute since the commotion had started, but nevertheless, they were too late; the damage had been done in mere seconds. I saw the jaws of those that first entered drop once they registered the room in its entirety; the broken spine of the sceptile, their passed out four colleagues, the two slightly twitching but otherwise almost lifeless luxio, the aegislash with its sword buried deep into the head of the meowstic, and amidst all the chaos, standing tall, the mindspector Mr. Pierce, whose grimacing face made it clear he was trying his best to mask the actual pain he was feeling.

"At ease, men," he ordered calmly as he looked towards the dead meowstic. "Trainer Red," he addressed me without changing his direction. "I assume when your trainer's license was given, you went through the blood and psionic tests, am I right?"

I nodded.

"Say the words so they are witnessable."

I couldn't help but admire his professionality. "Yes," I whispered.

"So it would be foolish to assume you are a psychic, a mutant of any kind that had power enough to cause all," he waved his hand through the room, "this?"

"Yes," I repeated.

"I see. Gentlemen," This time Mr. Pierce faced towards the police. "Before you tend to your fallen comrades, please bear witness to my official decision regarding today's mindspection. As a league anointed mindspector, I declare the result of today's mindspection "inconclusive", on grounds of the inspecting pokemon, in this case the meowstic coded M.13, going rogue and losing control. The case will hereby be returned to Judge Adelson, and it will be her decision whether or not to continue with this method or a jury trial, though my suggestion will be towards the latter. Trainer Re- ah," He wobbled on his feet, and grasped the desk in front to prevent his fall. "Excuse me, where was I? Yes, Trainer Red should be returned back to custody until Judge Adelson reaches her final decision. That will be all."

The last thing I saw before a pair of officers rolled me outside on a wheelchair was Mr. Pierce pulling up his shirt to reveal a large shard of wood, part of the exploded chair from the meowstic's assault, stuck deep near his abdominal. After a deep breath and audible grunt, I watched him pull it free, and graciously accept the help of a bunch of officers that had rushed forwards to provide first aid.

I only wished I could demonstrate half the composure he showed. My mind was still unadjusted, but the dreams were already fading, except for one Arceus-damned half-thought that would not leave my head, rolling over and over again from one side to another within my mind, maddening me.

 _I had just seen Sui-_

))(())((

"Ah, to once again be a part of your gallant efforts, such an honor Red, such an honor!"

 _Bill,_ I thought quietly. _Shut the fuck up._

And of course, he didn't.

"I admit, I was quite disappointed when you reached out to me after the tragic S.S. Anne saga – such a noble breed those Silphs, poor Obadiah! I had thought myself tricked, for sure you had asked for my invitation suspecting evil afoot – and you didn't even inform me!" Bill rambled on and on like a chattot, encouraged by my prolonged silence. "But to make gains from your loss that night, succeeding in stealing a sample of X, and anticipating your enemies' future moves, preventing them by asking my aid, I am in awe, Trainer Red, I am in awe!"

Having had enough of his babbling, I stood up and walked towards Dante, the only one of my pokemon who had not refused joining me inside in Bill's… Moon Base underneath his house. Pikachu and the others were all out, enjoying the fresh air and open space they had so longed for during my arrest. Adding my time in Vermilion's correctional facility till the mindspection to the time I had spent in a holding cell in Cerulean until a new trial could commence made a total of near three weeks where my pokemon were kept locked in their pokeballs and were under police supervision. Only after today's trial was I allowed to receive them, and only when Bill had brought me to his home had I dared releasing them.

They were not all in the same condition; Pikachu had emerged near comatose, while Callidora and Paul had just shrugged and stretched. My newest recruit, Silk the persian, had once again attempted an immediate escape at the sight of the wide forest stretching in front of Bill's yard, but an almost lazy vine from Callidora had tripped and bound her quickly. As for Dante, he looked exactly the same as before, not affected by the ordeal at all, which only further boiled my anger against his previous owner Nolan; both because by dying he had left me with a huge mess, and also because I now suspected long-time pokeball imprisonment was another example, aside of drugs, of how he had mistreated his starter.

My fingers gently brushed against my pokebelt, all the attached pokeballs now needed mending. They were not designed to keep mons for such long durations, if the pokemon in energy form continuously strained against the shell surrounding it, the casing would eventually break. My thoughts went slightly towards where I could find a place to fix them, when-

 _-cune too stopped and sat on its bottom, turning its face back towards me with lips on the upper jaw curled open, flashing sharp teeth, almost smirking at m-_

"Red? Red? Are you okay, my friend?"

I opened my eyes and saw Bill looking at me from… above. Embarrassed, I quickly stood up from where I had collapsed, but there was no hiding the blood drained, fearful face of mine. Bill looked worried, and the normally stoic Dante even nudged me with his snout, his eyes wondering what invisible threat had harmed his master.

"I'm… okay. Just today's trial. Went rough for a minute," I lied as I fought myself to push the delusions away, though I wasn't too successful.

 _What's happening to me?_

Luckily, Bill was easily convinced. He snorted. "As if it could have gone another way after my testimony, friend Red. Who would dare doubt a rightful heir to truth and justice as myself?"

 _Correct,_ I thought to myself, _though I wouldn't use those words._

And I eyed my semi-psychotic, twice now savior sideways as he returned to work on the giant deskdex.

Adding Bill to my plans had come naturally. I had already spoken with him after the S.S. Anne and promised bringing him the samples of X I had stolen from Archer so he could analyze and track the chemical's components. So, when I had realized the potential problems using Dante in a public match would bring, it wasn't a surprise that my head had leaned towards Bill once again. Both Butch and Archer had already pretty much confirmed that the rockets were after my head, and how the Mt. Moon operation was covered up had made me suspect the rockets had spies within the arms of the league government. It was nothing but expected for the rockets to jump at the chance to silence me legally.

But there was only a certain amount of influence their hidden operatives could use to affect a fair trial, and I doubted it could exceed what Bill could bring to the table. I had already called Bill in Diglett's Cave before my match in Vermilion, and he had agreed to testify falsely should all my suspicions prove right and I would indeed be arrested. We had only needed to keep our stories straight and coherent; during the suspected time frame of Nolan's murder, I was staying with Bill, who was a fan of mine and had wanted to sponsor my journey. One day, together we had run into an abandoned pokeball in the woods, and having been unable to find the owner, I had claimed it to myself. I had never had any contact with Trainer Nolan after our Nugget Tournament match, and wasn't even aware that he was missing and dead.

Suspicious? Maybe. Unbelievable? Definitely. But not when it came from the mouth of William "Bill" Stein in the witness stand, not when it came from William "Bill" Stein, the youngest, wealthiest, and smartest bachelor in all of Indigo. The excitement that had surrounded the jury when my lawyer Mr. Gold had summoned Bill to the stand had been visible; as far as the common people knew, this marked the first time Bill had appeared in public. And his general attitude might have been that of a prick, but there was no way a respectable member of high society would come show his support for a, no matter how talented, common trainer if he was not truly innocent, would he?

I had almost felt sorry for the prosecution. The minute Bill had taken that seat, the jury had already made its decision. Twelve votes of innocent, the decision was unanimous. A small fine was paid for the penalty of claiming Dante's pokeball without properly registering the ball in my name, but it wasn't that serious an amount; too many trainers always traded too many pokemon and never bothered to go through the proper forms, the notion that the league could keep track of them all was unrealistic, and they knew it, so the penalties were rarely ever applied. Half an hour later, I was a free man and was ready to collect my possessions.

My possessions, which included a red jacket where a small piece had been cut out and re-stitched, and now lay once again cut atop the desk in front of Bill's superdex. Having removed the six different types of X pills, Bill was trying to separate and identify the chemical's main components in hopes of tracking it, though from the looks of it, it wasn't going too well.

As he worked on his dexscreen, muttering to himself about candies and iron-calcium alloys, I began working my mind on last week's surprise mindspection. What on earth could have had possibly prompted a judge to rule that way initially? Mindspections were best done at the moment, for security or investigatory reasons, not for a murder crime dating months back. Was this truly an oversight from the judge, or was there a secret third-party after me that had convinced the judge to act so? Or perhaps I was too arrogant, perhaps the target wasn't even myself, but one of the people present in the room during that time, my arrest was simply a convenient cover to try an assassination attempt on… Who? Mr. Pierce? One of the cops? Or had all this happened naturally, without any outside influence, and I was overthinking the matter?

And another issue was how that meowstic had gone crazy, that was definitely not normal, what could have had prompted the psychic pokemon to act-

 _-uicune approached me, and as usual no one bat an eyelid. I was still swaying back and forth in my place when it came near and touche-_

I clutched at my chest, gasping for breath. Dante growled sensing my distress and eyed the room wildly, but no, once again he couldn't comprehend what sort of enemy was out there, harming me. Shaking my head, I reached over to pat his head and cursed inwardly. _Control yourself, Arceus dammit._

"Red, my friend, I have some good news and bad news." Bill was finally done, leaning back on his chair, he eyed the ceiling. He went on without waiting for my answer. "The bad news is, X. The science is… beyond me at the moment."

I could only stare. This person was the second smartest person in all of Indigo, behind only Professor Oak, even exceeded him some subjects, and he couldn't find the simple components of one lousy pill?

"With time I may be able to reach a solid conclusion, but I highly doubt it. What's more, the set we have is too limited, I can't try the necessary, more hazardous experiments in fear of destroying the sample." He made a three-hundred-sixty around his rolling chair before continuing. "I don't like using the term impossible when it comes to science, but… well, I can't see a future in which I figure this out," he honestly admitted, opening both his hands wide.

This changed things. I was really counting on Bill to provide me with some clue against the rockets, so far, I had always been the one caught by surprise, and for once it would have been great to ambush and catch at least one of them so I could have delivered some payback, and perhaps forced them to give me some answers regarding my… heritage.

Bill grinned. "Do not look so disappointed friend Red, without having heard the good news yet."

I felt a slight unease at Bill's accurate interpretation of my expression, hadn't people always failed at guessing my true thoughts until now? _I'm slipping,_ I admitted to myself. _The last few weeks' stress might have costed me more than suspected._

"Are you familiar with a certain Officer Danielle Philips?" Bill asked, and when I shook my head, he read what he had found on the dex. "At first glance, our Ms. Philips seems quite an ordinary desk worker, which was why after I hacked the police database, it peaked my interest that it was her who had notified her superiors in her report that there was, and I quote here, 'a striking resemblance between two trainers' pokemon, suspicion of theft'. Hardly anything to go on, have no idea why they would listen to her."

 _Wait, he hacked the I.P.F network?_

"Samuel's security firewall has always had its fair share of problems." Bill nonchalantly shrugged the issue off. "Further following this trail, I learned Ms. Philips was also the officer who had filed the missing person's report for the poor departed Trainer Nolan. Coincidence? Perhaps. But here comes the creme of the crop. Officer Danielle Philips also goes by another identity, a Marie Haller, from her past years working undercover at _narcotics._ "

I caught up immediately. "You think she turned rattata?"

"I think, it is highly unlikely that the officer who oversaw the Nolan case, the officer who pulled the attention of her superiors towards the similarity between your two pokemon, the officer who had years of underground experience, _was also one of the three cops present at your arrest in Vermilion."_

I stared at Bill dumbfounded. "She was one the cops who arrested me?"

"Affirmative. And what's even more odd, she's normally stationed here at Cerulean City, where she also makes her home. According to the info here, she had added herself last minute to the squad in Vermilion, and had paid for the porting ticket herself. Seems like she was almost desperate to put you behind bars, hmm?"

I stood up and headed towards the exit, Dante trailing right behind me. "And she's back in the city right now, yes?"

"Yes, friend Red, indeed she is," answered Bill.

"You have an address?"

"Already sent to your dex. Tread carefully, Red, no matter our suspicions, she's still an officer of the law," warned Bill, "which is the only reason why Flamefairy will not be joining you today, not because I still haven't worked out the issue of overheating the weaponry and…" His voice trailed off as I climbed the stairs.

I didn't bother yelling back and answering him in my excitement. This was the first solid lead I had on the rockets, and the entire league be damned, not even Lance himself could stop me from following it.

 _This is for Poka and my mankey. This is for the clefable. This is for putting an arrow through Callidora and killing Dante's trainer. This is for Marc and Jacob Silph, and all the countless others on the S.S. Anne._

 _But most importantly, this is for me._

))(())((

Night had fallen in Cerulean, and the city's trademark street lights of many colors were turning on one by one. A suitable red colored one shined right on me.

Tonight, Pikachu wasn't my only companion, I had left Dante out of his ball too. Partly because Pikachu was still groggy from his time spent in the starter ball, and partly because, if it came to it, a charmeleon worked better as an intimidating mon than the rest of my team. So here I was, Pikachu between my feet and Dante at my side, literally stalking Officer Danielle's apartment, keeping one eye fixed on the turned-on lights at the far end window at the third floor, where I knew her room was.

At the same time, I was reading her bio Bill had sent me. _Officer Danielle Phillips, a forty-one-year-old trainer from Viridian City, gave up her trainer's name (Trainer Lotus) when she joined the force. A four badger, she received her first three badges by studying under the tutelages of Leader Falkner Sr. of Violet Gym, Leader Kiyo of Saffron Gym, and Leader Pryce of Mahogany Gym. Her fourth badge was won by combat against Leader Chuck of Cianwood Gym, after which she joined the force. She was often praised for her investigative nature and close-combat battle style, and was in line for a promotion. In order to fill the minimum five badge requirement for Major, she challenged Leader Blaine of Cinnabar Gym to combat, but after losing half her main team against Blaine's magmortar, including her starter tyrogue (Hitmontop), she surrendered. This loss of firepower has caused her demotion, and she's only been trusted with desk duty and small field-operations ever since._

 _Vengeful,_ I thought to myself after, _that's how she probably feels against the force. Over ten years of service, near promotion, tons of experience working undercover – then one mishap, one mistake against one of the arguably strongest leaders in Kanto, and suddenly she's old and used. It wasn't probably too hard for the rockets to turn her._

Absentmindedly, I scratched the top of Dante's head that came near my chest. I wondered how many the rockets had added to their cause, how many easy targets, swayed trainers had joined them because of their dissatisfaction at the current league system, and wondered what their ultimate end goal was. I refused to believe an organization capable of supporting trainers like Jessie, James, and Archer, who all were near or equal leader level, was a simple drug cartel, no, X was a means to an end, an end that was too distant for me to see.

One thing was sure though, Blue was right. Something in the current system was rotten, and he was certainly the only one who could fix it. I felt a twinge of jealousy I quickly buried towards my rival, how easy, how simple, how disgustingly _noble_ was his motivation. Compared to him, my yet unknown motivations seemed-

 _Pain._

"Ughhhh!" I fell on my knees, holding my chest, trying to keep my ponding heart still. Tuned to my emotions, Pikachu growled aggressively and Dante roared, both seeking the enemy.

 _Incredible, internal, unimaginable_ _pain._

What the hell was this? An attack? A psychic one, a chemical one? I felt vomit building up and the earth around me spinning. I bit my tongue to distract myself but-

 _My blood was burning; it was eating me from the inside, building up in pressure, heating up my organs, expanding in volume, preparing to blow me up._

"This is _not_ now," I whispered. "This is not even real. This, this is-"

 _My blood was screaming,_ _go away, leave, nothing is worth this, abandon the mission._

Pikachu's fur crackled, the fire in Dante's tail grew. Their monster eyes were scanning the darkness, but how could they guess the attack was from within?

 _My blood was calling me, instinctively I knew, just knew that whatever was torturing me, it was familiar, close, part of me._

"This." I punched the street floor hard. "Is." Harder. "Not. Real."

 _And in my pain I was_ _free_ _, free from that cursed Suic-_

Harder until blood spurted.

"This is not real! This is not real!"

 _-une who had meddled with my life, who was staring at me across river, on the other side of the shore between the two largest trees of the forest-_

Harder. Harder.

 _-who was ignoring every piece of thunder the left behind Pikachu was sending his way like they were nothing more than pieces of confetti-_

Until the pain of the present masked the pain of the past, _harder._

 _-who had sent me_ _here_ _to my doom by controlling my heart, body, and soul._

"THIS IS NOT REAL!" I roared into the night.

"FOR THE LOVE OF THE RIVERS, SHUT UP!"

Gasping, a sweaty and trembling mess, the angry shout coupled with my bruised and bleeding knuckles finally drove the… whatever it was, away. Pikachu looked worried and suspicious as he licked my injured hand, but Dante was growling and looking elsewhere, _up._

Still on my knees, I followed his gaze, and saw Officer Danielle Philips stare down her window.

Apparently, I too caught her by surprise.

"Oh – it's _you_." The disgust in her voice was palpable, but, even though I couldn't tell from the distance, I thought she didn't look that surprised to see me in front of her apartment, at least, she didn't sound so.

"You might as well come up," she said, and added before shutting the window close, "you already know the floor."

))(())((

"I'm not armed," was the first thing she said as she invited me in. She pulled her shirt up so her pokebelt was visible, and I saw no pokeballs attached. "So I'd appreciate it if you kept those two in their balls."

I almost laughed.

Truth be told, my mind was still a bit murky from what had happened on the street, and my body still pumped adrenaline increasing my recklessness, but I wasn't stupid enough to enter a rocket's home unarmed. Pikachu and Dante thought the same, they both entered first in front of me like they owned the place, and kept growling all the way through.

I stepped right after them.

Officer Danielle shrugged as she shut the door behind me. "Suit yourself."

Her apartment was small, one bedroom plus a living room, but I wasn't one to abandon precautions. On my signal, Pikachu made a quick round around the place while Dante kept watch over Danielle. She didn't seem to mind though and made her way towards what I assumed was the kitchen.

"Drink?" she yelled back. "I was in the middle of fixing myself one."

I didn't bother answering and sat on a comfortable looking sofa. A minute later, Pikachu came back, his silence proving he couldn't find any threats in the house. Almost at the same time, Danielle returned holding a wine glass, Dante trailing right behind.

I didn't speak until she sat at an armchair positioned in front of me.

"You're a rocket."

This was not the planned opening I had, but Danielle wasn't reacting the way I had expected either, for someone tasked by the rockets to silence me, she didn't look half as surprised as one would expect her to be at finding her mission target right under her nose.

"I'm an informant," she corrected and took a sip from her glass. "I don't wear the R."

 _No denial,_ I thought. _Straightforward admitting. What's the game here?_

"You know, that Bill move was incredibly dirty." She drank another mouthful of wine. "All the reports said you were a loner, we were not expecting such a high caliber witness. Otherwise, we would've bought the jury." She shrugged. "Too late now."

 _Too late… For what?_

"And the mindspection… that almost fucked everything up. It wasn't you who set that up, was it?"

I shook my head, waiting for her to continue.

"Thought so. Stupid fucking judge. Almost ruined everything. Well, ruined enough already." She shook the empty glass in her hand. "Gonna go refill. Your lizard can come if you want."

They both returned, but this time she had foregone the glass and was back with an entire bottle.

 _The pity party's gone long enough._

"The rockets. Tell me everyth-"

"You're not gym trained, are you?" She interrupted. "I can tell. Incredible talent, but your base skills are only refined by training school, and everything else is self-taught. Am I right?"

I slapped my palm against the coffee table between us, and Pikachu's fur flashed. "The. Rockets. Cease the irrelevant babbling and tell me where I can find one."

She rolled her eyes at my outburst, and drank the bottle half empty. "Not that irrelevant, though. In gyms, for your… second? Third? Too long ago, and I'm not sober enough to remember. Either way, for one of the badge tests, they make you identify some common poisons. Through _tasting_." Her face wrinkled in disgust. "Do you know I've tasted _grimer_? Well, pieces of it anyway. Just enough not to kill you. Gulpin goo, ekans venom, vileplume spores, I've tasted them all."

She drank the bottle to its end, then put it between us. "And if I were to pick a favorite, then it would be nidoqueen venom. Simply because it's completely _tasteless_. Also painless."

Cold awareness spread inside me. _She didn't…_

"At least that bitch Jessie remembered it when she brought the vial over. I'd hate to taste grimer again." She pointed towards her own face, dragging a line across with her index finger, mimicking the scar on my own face. "That looks like James' work, and Jessie's always with her, so I take it you're familiar with the name?"

I still couldn't break my gaze from the bottle, what sort of fanatical ideology, extremist loyalty would drive someone to poison herself, what exactly _were_ the rockets really?

"Oh, you misunderstand. This is punishment thorough and thorough, the lesser of two evils," she explained at the sight of my confusion, to which from the back of my mind a voice screamed, _she shouldn't be able to read your face! Up your game!_ "Once you walked free from that trial, I became a loose end, the trail was too obvious for the seeking eye. Jessie visited earlier in the day to inspect the apartment and… make sure I didn't have anything tying to them. She dropped the vial, warning me of what would happen if morning came and my cold body next to a suicide note was not found. Bitch."

She gazed towards the window, a satisfied smile forming on her lips. "She didn't get my babies though, no, no, the minute you were free, I released them all back to the wild. Didn't give the bitch the pleasure of feeding them to that fucking snake. At least… my babies are safe."

An intense quiet grew between us that I broke. "You… don't seem particularly fond of them. Yet you turned rattata."

"I haven't been particularly fond of much since _him._ " Her eyes were blazing. "After… what happened, I guess I didn't care much about certain notions. Especially the Plateau's. Anything working against that, and, heh, I'll admit, paid better, I was just about ready to sign up." A chuckle formed at her lips that didn't take long to turn into a full-fledged laughter. "Amazing, isn't it? How being close to death brings the courage to confess stuff buried deep."

Her laughter grew, but I was already analyzing her words. _Anything working against the Plateau… Is that the end goal of the rockets? To overthrow the government? Seems… too impossible._ I stared at Danielle Philips. _Or is it what the rockets told her to get her on their side?_

"Do you know where I can find any rocket?"

"Dip you hand into a pond, you're likely to catch a goldeen," she muttered between hiccups.

 _Too vague._ "And if I asked you where I could find Jessie?" I dared asking.

That caught her attention. Behind her half-closed eyes, I could feel her focusing on the question, except it was difficult to think with a full bottle of Fuchsian wine working its way through her system. _And the added poison doesn't help. It should soon show its effect,_ I thought grimly.

After what seemed like eternity, she finally managed some words. "Wha- what's it with you and-and the rock-rockeeeeeetsss anyway?" she asked.

There were a number of answers to that question, but I chose the one that mattered.

"I want to _hurt_ them."

Dante's low growl and Pikachu's flashing fur accentuated the honesty behind my words. I continued my speech without hesitation.

"They tortured me."

Imitating her, I traced the scar on my face with my finger.

"They killed my early team. They shot at my pokemon. They chased me through the woods like an animal. They lured me to a trap in the middle of the ocean. They fucking framed me for a murder _they_ committed."

"I-I framed you," she tried interrupting, but I was too lost in the heat of the moment.

"On their orders! You want to ask me what's up with me and them?" I stood abruptly, kicking the coffee table between us out of the way and leaned forwards, bringing my face closer to hers.

"They _dared_ attack _me._ I did _nothing_ to initiate this fight, all I had ever wanted was a peaceful passage through motherfucking Mount fucking Moon!"

"They dared attack me," I repeated as she stood silent. "They dared attack a _champion._ So they will reap what they sowed. One of them already died at my hand, another by my hand. And countless others of them I killed through my actions."

"You claim you don't care about _good,_ or _bad_ , or _justice_ anymore. You claim the only reason you turned _traitor,_ " I noticed how she minced at the word, "was because you wanted to stick it to the man, because the man had stuck it to you. Guess what though?"

I pointed at the knocked over wine bottle on the ground and watched as her eyes briefly focused on it. "The man didn't force you to commit suicide tonight. The man didn't force you to abandon your team tonight. _That_ was Jessie. _That_ was the rockets. Now tell me where I can find her, so I can-"

"So you can _what_?" she whispered. Gone was the intoxicated tone in her voice, gone was the sleepy, bitter expression on her face, and with her approaching death, for the first time since I entered her apartment, I finally saw the career oriented, ambitious trainer; lost all those years ago to the silhouette of what she was now. "So you can _what,_ Pokemon Trainer Red?"

I caught the pleading promise in her voice and answered her coldly. "So I can _kill_ them."

She outright laughed.

She laughed and laughed and laughed, until her laughter transformed into coughs, and the coughs were interrupted by short gasps by a mouth seeking air. Then the voice changed to raspy breathing, and she vomited a mouthful of blackened blood; I barely got out of the way.

A mixture of disgust and pity filled my heart at the sight of this broken woman, but surprisingly, I could find no hate there, despite the responsibility she bared for my last three weeks of incarceration. I did not know why, but my hand instinctively reached out and shut Officer Danielle Philips' half-closed eyes. "May you find peace," I muttered. "May it all have been worth whatever it is you thought you had been fighting for."

I turned my back and gestured Pikachu and Dante out, there was no need to linger any longer and risk someone spotting us. Just when I stepped out of her apartment room, I heard it: A barely audible, half whisper.

"Lavender."

 _The town of the dead._

 _Poetic,_ I thought as Cerulean's chilly night air greeted me. _I promised I would kill them, and this was where fate saw fit to do the deed._

 _After, of course,_ I finished the untold part of the promise I made to Danielle silently, _after I pry from them everything there is to know about my father._

))(())((

 **Author's note:**

 **Was out of town due to some real-life reasons, hence the one-week delay from the promised date range, apologies.**

 **If you're a first-time reader of this story, and for some reason decided to begin reading at this chapter, lol, sorry, a chapter with almost no pokemon at all, bet wasn't what you expected from a pokemon fanfic. But even for long time readers, this chapter really builds on many things that were established in the previous chapters, chapters uploaded** _ **months**_ **ago, and in case readers don't want to rightfully go back and reread, here's a very short, very basic list. I normally don't like spoon-feeding readers information, but really, it's been a long time since the last Red chapter. Ignore if you remembered and understood everything.**

 **In Red chapters 8-9, Red met a powerful pokemon that erased his memory of the encounter.**

 **In chapter 9, Nolan was killed by a trio of rockets, and Red and Bill (in disguise) killed two of them and rescued Dante, but failed to recover Nolan's body.**

 **In chapter 10, Bill reveals himself to be a hero-complexed psycho, and sort of build himself an illusion that the rockets, especially Butch, is destined to be his arch nemesis.**

 **In chapter 12, after confronting Archer on the S.S. Anne, Red manages to steal a couple X pills and calls Bill to ask analyze them.**

 **In chapter 13, during training Dante against Surge, Red thinks of the possibility of the rockets framing him, and thinks of situation where he can use this and trap one instead. At the end of the chapter, he is indeed arrested.**

 **Next chapter(s): The following four chapters are all near finished, so I expect to upload at least three of them this month.**


	19. Chapter 15: Fractured

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Fractured:

Lavender, a small isolated town on the east coast of Indigo, arguably the safest, securest place in the whole country to live in.

Which also made it a bitch to travel to.

The town did have a small shoreline to its south, but the rough waves and jagged rocks protruding from the sea bottom made it impossible for ships to approach. The weather was almost always windy and rainy, with a high likelihood of storms and hurricanes, so even before Lance's reign the city had been declared a no-fly zone. And both shadowing and porting were impossible due to the city's silent "guardian angels".

I meant the wild ghost, psychic, and dark types of course.

What did these three types all have in common that drew them all to Lavender? Not a question easily answered by science, but, where science failed, religion and legends-

 _The northern winds blow strong. Near, nearer, the waters sing their king's presence, and I know it's behind me, dare I look? Hidden behind a mane of polar lights, the twin white tails reach, they connect, and they, and they-_

"Everything all right?"

Startled, I realized my outreached hand was trembling.

Pikachu growled worriedly.

Luckily, the salesperson assumed my anxiety came from the price tag. "Look kid, I'll be honest with you, I don't think the Aggronator 430 is the model you want to go with – this here's a pro mountain bike, best used for them hills and caves around Pewter. Durable, sure, but," He nodded towards Pikachu, "I doubt a guy like you will find the speed satisfying. You'll quickly regret riding her in Cerulean's streets."

"Instead," He gestured towards a sleeker, smaller bike. "Can I interest you in the Explodtrode 360? This gal's been tested against an actual ninjask, and fared really better than expected, lost only by a thirty-three percent margin at the end of a hundre-"

I rang the bell on the Aggronator 430. The shrill, loud sound cut his explanations short.

He squinted his eyes. "Your money."

Half an hour and a few adjustments later, for the first time since Viridian Forest - Arceus, it had been near five months since those days - I was once again on bike, calmly riding through the narrow and crowded streets of Cerulean, enjoying for possibly the last time the view the many fresh water canals dividing the city offered. Pikachu, without the slightest hint of over exasperation, paced himself next to me. The salesperson had been right, it was obvious this bike was not the best for comfortable, daily usage within the city; if he wanted to, Pikachu could overtake me in a second on the smooth terrain Cerulean offered.

Then again, the road ahead of us would be anything but smooth.

Like Pewter, Lavender was an isolated town. Flight and sea travel to the city was impossible, as was shadowing and porting; the high concentration of wild psionic and dark species inhabiting the land built a too impenetrable astral defense plane. The easiest way to reach the city was to port or fly as near as the city's natural defenses allowed to the edge of route K08 east of Saffron, and then simply walk the rest of the route until the town gates were in sight.

Of course, there was also always the hard way.

I hit the brakes over a small bridge when I saw Cerulean's eastern gate just ahead. I knew behind the gate lay routes K09 and K10, where at the end of the latter was Kanto's sea waves power plant located. But between the power plant and the intersection point of the two routes, my dexmap showed a small cave entrance; a moderately dangerous zone full of many beta and low-alpha tier pokemon, a place attractive to high amounts of a certain type of pokemon, so much that the cavern was surrounded in perpetual darkness, incapable of being penetrated by any means of artificial light.

Rock Tunnel.

I took a moment to glance back towards the city I was leaving behind; though not an overly sentimental person, to say this city hadn't left the most impact on me throughout my journey would be outright lying. Cerulean was, with her colorful street lights and canals, by far the most beautiful city I had ever seen and coincidentally, had been the one where I had made many first memories. This was where I had first met Callidora, first met Dante, heck, even first met Paul. This was where I had won against the first gym leader who had gone all out, without any underestimation of my skills. This was where I had battled Blue officially for the first time and, heh, had afterwards my first bar fight. And though less pleasant experiences, this was where I had survived a trial and landed my first real clues against the rockets.

I swallowed. This was also the place where I had first met Melanie.

Pikachu slowly nudged his nose against my leg.

"Yeah, yeah, buddy," I muttered. "Give me a second."

Knowing fully well it was unrealistic, I couldn't help but follow the flowing water underneath me with my eyes, tracing the paths and curves it took, and wondered if it at some point it would pass near Melanie's hideout. I imagined what she would be doing right now had she been free; would she be risking a tour of the city with her oddish and sandshrew, or would the heavy hanging drapes be shielding her day-time sleep, or, perhaps, would we, would she and I still be together, underneath the dusty drabs and holed sheets she owned, and-

A tremor in the water distracted me from my thoughts. Small ripples formed, and out jumped a goldeen, which to my surprise, did not have the regular orange and white color scheme seen in its species, but a brighter, gold colored pattern. I didn't have much time to register any other irregularities though, after a quick flick of its tail, it had dived deep again and disappeared.

I grinned. If this was not the simplest, most worthy sendoff a city could offer to one man, one trainer, then I didn't know what was. Once again prepared for the road ahead of me, I turned my gaze towards the city gates near. A quick final flashback of the memories I had acquired here rushed my mind; Pikachu jumping around Blue's starter and pinning her down, advancing us to the round ahead, the drinks we had after, the night when I accepted Callidora as min-

 _It comes on the water, through the water, of the water. A thousand bells chiming in the wind, the air, the land, screaming its name. Indominable, unmistakable glory felt in its presence; undeniable, inevitable fear at its sight. Its name as clear as the purified path it leaves behind, the emissary hound Suic-_

"Gaah!"

Looking down, I saw Pikachu biting down on my fight. Bored with his master's antics, he was itching on driving me forwards.

"Okay, okay," I said as bravely as I could. "Let's go."

And as I hit the pedals forwards, I felt a sudden chill, a shadow so immense falling upon me that I had to turn my head back a second just to confirm it was indeed imaginary. Naturally, nothing was there, and the rational part of my mind was affirming my belief that these visions, these dreams were only the aftereffects, the post-traumatic reactions my body was showing against that fiasco of a mindspection, and would pass with time, that they were nothing to worry about. And I knew this; my mind, body, and soul, they all knew this.

But they, I, also knew, no matter how hard I tried reassuring myself, the icky steps of _doubt_ had crawled right in my psyche's palace.

 _And what is doubt, if not,_ a small thought in my head formed I desperately tried silencing, _the first step towards delusion?_

 _What is doubt indeed, if not a prerequisite for insanity?_

))(())((

I had to give Trainer Atana his due; he had not shirked from the battle on account of the type disadvantage his sandslash faced against Callidora.

Probably because he knew that was the _only_ advantage Callidora had.

"Get her Golin!"

The ground pokemon snarled and lunged at my ivysaur; his larger size and long, sharp claws capable of piercing through even a graveler's rocky skin gave the pokemon a significant advantage in reach. I didn't even bother warning Callidora to dodge them, she wasn't stupid enough to stay in range. A quick side step, and the sandslash now occupied the empty space where my ivysaur just was; his claws had missed their target greatly.

He growled, and by the time the heavier, armored pokemon turned and realigned himself with his target, Callidora had already launched her counter: Thick thorny vines extended, cracking dangerously like whips through the air, they aimed to bind Golin helpless but… in place of the beast was now a spiked ball, the perfect defensive form. Callidora's vines couldn't get through the thick hide of the curled up sandslash, and I knew leech seeds would be useless against a spherical opponent capable of rolling and shaking them off.

"Double or nothing on the slash!"

"Wanna increase on the saur?"

"Ten minutes past; no knockout. Pay up!"

"Write down another five, no winner."

"Knockout by fatigue on the twenty-minute mark!"

"The saur wins by spores, hundred creds."

 _Least the crowd's enjoying the show._

Easily the longest natural route in Kanto, K09, also dubbed the Trainer's Haven, had long been an attraction for all trainers devoid of a steady income. Trainers who opted not to continue their career in the military, police force, I.R.O., or league really didn't have much choice of an earning; they could either try their chances in the private industry as security guards or live year to year by the prizes gyms offered – if they ever could win against any leaders. The first was a dead-end job in a highly competitive arena, and the second was both risky and a short-termed solution. Neither understandably highly desirable.

Which brought us to our third option: _Gambling._

Well, gambling was probably a too strong and immoral definition that also included the "by chance" factor. What these trainers actually did was far from it; they were capitalizing on an open market. There existed many trainers lacking "real" jobs and in need of an income, so, years ago, a group of opportunistic trainers thought of bringing these people together and organizing a tournament: An easy-going, laid back one, a small scaled league challenge if you would, where killing was not allowed. All that was required was a small entrance fee, about as half as one would pay for a gym challenge, and suddenly trainers were presented with the chance of making some cash by battling people equally or less talented.

The location of the first tournament was route K09. An isolated road that led nowhere; its calm weather, lazy river flowing next to the road, and forests and hills to the north provided the perfect place for all trainer types to sharpen and build their battle strategies. The first tournament was a huge success; the winners had increased their wealth, and the losers had gained valuable battling experience at a far less cost than what a gym challenge would take. A second one was quickly arranged within the same year, then a third, fourth and so on…

Today the tournament style battle system had outgrown itself; and route K09 had become a place for all kinds of battles between all kinds of trainers, regardless of their badge numbers or talent. The essential two rules remained: Everything was for money, and no killing. Hence the entirety of the road was covered in groups of trainers battling in single, double, triple, or royale format between each other, with even more trainers spectating and betting on the outcomes. A small hierarchy was visible, the battles between lesser skilled trainers took place closer to Cerulean's gates, whereas those between six, seven badgers were held further east, but otherwise, route K09 was one of the safest places for trainers to hone their skills by battling equals in a sportily fashion.

The one downside of the Trainer's Haven was it promoted stagnancy. This was indeed the perfect and easiest place for trainers to win money, but those too lazy and without ambition tended to settle. In my opinion, the route was best for trainers who had earned their first two badges via studying at gyms and sought real life battling experience before challenging leaders; not for those compliant enough to spend their entire life here earning easy cash and spending it quickly, repeating an endless cycle.

And judging from Trainer Atana and his sandslash Golin's skills, he belonged to the latter group.

The first clue was he did not fear my name or badge numbers as the rookie trainers at this part of the route did. The second was he did not seem to fall for the type advantage mistake. He realized just because I was using a grass type and he a ground type the win was not automatically mine; in a usual, equal matchup between the two species, the grass type had the advantages of mobility and recovery, and the capability of performing surgical strikes against most ground types' soft belly armor with their fast-extending, flexible vines. Plus, leech seeds and mixed powders made it most often certain a grass type would win the battle of attrition.

But Atana's pokemon was a sandslash. A distant cousin to the pikachu and rattata lines, he was quicker on his feet than most ground types. He also had an incredible defensive capability by curling up and covering his weak underbelly completely, and still be mobile in that state. And the fact that we were not battling in a large league approved arena with the suitable field measurements but instead between a smaller circle of spectating trainers leaving just enough space for the two beasts to battle also added to the mouse pokemon's many advantages.

Him considering all of these factors proved Atana was an experienced battler, just one too lazy or fearful for official matches. I would probably put him at about a two-badger level if he had any, but no, here was a trainer too afraid to break his own self-established status quo.

 _Which probably means he doesn't like taking risks, but loves opportunities,_ I thought as Callidora dodged and countered the sandslash's advance again to no avail. _So let's give him one._

A click of my tongue followed a short whistle. _Bait._

Golin the sandslash had once again uncurled himself and was seeking an opening to lunge, which Callidora suddenly gave. So superb was her acting; if I didn't know she was acting on my orders I would have hundred percent believed her. Her left foreleg tripped over a mound of dirt, and even though it only took a second for her to regain balance, her momentary distraction was enough for the sandslash to strike. The twenty or so watching trainers gasped as Golin dug his clawed feet into the ground for a steady foothold and jumped. Too fast was the attack and Callidora seemed too unprepared, a victorious snarl escaped the sandslash's mouth midair when…

A cloud of spores burst out of my ivysaur's bud. So far during the battle Golin had successfully avoided inhaling the various powders Callidora secreted, but midair, in the middle of an attack, he didn't have the time to curl and shield his mouth. The powders exploded colorfully on his face, and Golin hit the ground with a crash, rolling over and exposing his belly, with a greenish smudge visible near his snout and while lightly snoring. Defenseless as his pokemon was currently, Trainer Atana found no sense in continuing the battle and recalled the pokemon.

Victory wasn't consequence-free though. While the spectators applauded and exchanged owed money, I knelt next to Callidora, examining the fore-foot she was trying to hide. I pulled her leg in front of me, realizing one of the sandslash's claws had made contact and broken with the impact, and was now stuck in my ivysaur's foot. She whimpered when I touched around the wound, but I ignored her and pulled the claw free. A cry escaped her, and she instinctively lashed out with a vine, but I was done with my examination, as expected, nothing was fatal. Her grass type body would heal the injury quickly with help of the sunny climate at this part of Indigo; at worst she would suffer from a few days' worth of limping.

As I reached to my bag to rub some mixed oran-sitrus berry ointment on the wound, movement in the flowing river near the road caught my eye. My pulse raced, too fast had the figure moved that I wasn't even sure if I had actually seen it, but unless I was mistaken, unless I was _insane,_ then, then the body was _blue,_ and had _white_ marks all over, which meant, which could only mean-

 _A pokemon was walking on water, one I saw only in children's story books._ _It traveled on four legs and was blue with white diamond shaped patter-_

"Damn," I heard Trainer Atana approach me from behind. "Did you _knowingly_ allow your mon to take that hit just to win?"

I said nothing but stood and extended my hand, waiting for him to pay up.

He did so with a shrug. "Cold, dude," he said as he dropped a bundle of cash into my hand. "Cold."

))(())((

 _Cold._

The campfire Dante lit against the dark was unnecessary under the bight, starry sky, but still provided a place to stare and organize my thoughts. The first of the many nights I would spend on this route; provided I kept with the strict training regimen I applied to each of my pokemon and limited the many possible battles to five a day, one each for every pokemon I owned, it would still take near a week and a half on the Aggronator to reach route K10. And afterwards there was still Rock Tunnel, where my bike would be really put to test.

 _Cold._

What did he know, of all people, about sacrifice? About battle, about victory? About the cost needed to be paid in blood, sweat, and tears to achieve greatness?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

And was I not Pokemon Trainer Red, the record-breaking, most promising rookie trainer of this generation? Three badges I had won; _all_ through _combat._ Not one was through listening to the theoretical lectures given by leaders and aides at gyms, not one was through following the practical instructions given by men called leaders when they were less, oh yes, definitely _less,_ than myself, for if they were more, how could they had fallen by _my_ hand? Had I not felled Brock's pinnacle of monstrous strength with a mere pikachu, a species of elemental powers his beast was supposedly immune towards? Had I not ripped the many arms of Misty's arsenal one by one, with the help of a monster type she was supposedly an authority of? And had I not laughed at the face of Surge's many years' worth of experience, had I not forced him to retreat in a battlefield of his choosing, in the only combat style his own rules allowed, the only combat style he had practiced and prepared for, at my first try?

 _Cold._

A sudden unease tugged at my heart as I watched my pokemon sleeping around the fire; more and more each day was I letting them roam free because I had forgotten to mend their pokeballs before leaving Cerulean in my haste to catch up to Jessie. Their peaceful, asleep faces made me confront perhaps an alternative version of those memories; had I not won against Brock because I had seen absolutely no error in pitting a pikachu of all mons against an onix? Had I not won against Misty because Paul had survived the punishment Roulette had dealt, and Callidora had barely found the time to secretly land some seeds before a telekinetic blast had crushed her bones? And had I not won against Surge only because Dante had run for his life from the pursuing electrivire after my foolish order to make him scout the enemy, had I not won only because Pikachu had barely made it in the nick of time before Superbia had found a chance to electrocute Callidora?

Had I not won only because of luck and my ignorance towards my pokemon's limits?

 _Cold._

This time I definitely saw them. I jumped to my feet and chased, and without knowing I was already half my waist deep in the flowing water of the river, but I was too late.

The eyes were already gone.

But the memory of the body they were attached to remained.

Blue and white colored.

 _I had just seen Sui-_

"NO!"

I bit my tongue and tried focusing. Dante's fire was still visible near the riverbed, and I half-waddled half-swam my way back to my makeshift camp. My pokemon were all still asleep, except for Dante and Pikachu; their senses of smell and hearing superior to the others, they both opened their eyes wide at the sight of cold water dripping down my body.

"It's nothing," I mouthed not to wake the others. "Go back to sleep."

Not entirely convinced, they both obeyed, and I huddled closer to our campfire, trying to warm and dry myself.

 _Cold._

I felt the anger I had towards Trainer Atana return. What did he know about training, about battling, at all? He was just a washed up, ambitionless, drifting trainer, for whom the only meaning the word _purpose_ had was winning the night's drinking money. He was a regular mareep, content with spending his life between Cerulean and K09, living day by day through immoral gambling, leeching on trainers less talented than himself; but today, today I had shown him, today I had put an end to his scheming life plans, for I was Red, Trainer Red, _Champion_ Red-

 _That is my name, yes. Champion Red. That is what I am, who I am. I am above the crowd of human shaped barriers fighting eternally against personal growth, for I am the pursuit of perfection manifested itself, the best, the superior; and the ramblings of lesser are not only ignorable, but also boring and unentertaining. And for that I isolate myself from them, for that I do not gift them with conversation._

 _Yes,_ I thought, dry now enough to try and sleep. _I am Champion Red. And what matters the opinions of others- no, those lesser, when compared to mine?_

I lay to my right, facing the river, but turned abruptly to my other side when I saw, I _thought_ I saw, no, I _imagined_ a pair of eyes staring even if, no, _definitely_ \- even though the pair was _definitely_ imaginary, fear still gripped my heart, the vision of my pokemon sleeping in a circle around me blackened, and with no other choice for relief, I held close to the one thought shielding me from the horrors of the night.

 _I am Champion Red. I am better._

 _I am Champion Red. I am better._

 _I am Champion Red._

 _I am better._

))(())((

"Will's officially resigned, you hear?"

"Man, they still couldn't get those two snorlax."

"Hey, up for a trade? Corphish for the yanma?"

"This Oak kid, did you see the bounty he collected?"

 _Too much noise…_

Our fifth day on the route, we were going faster than I had expected, but as we moved further, so did the density of trainers increase; everywhere there were battles and gambles and trades going on, and more than anything else, just simple idle chitchat, making it increasingly difficult to focus on training…

 _So sleepy._

"I heard, what was it, family of three?"

"From the Alph ruins, right? Insane!"

"Anyone seen my wacan berries?

 _Soooo sleepy. Must. Sleep._

Pikachu was still going strong, running along the bike increased his stamina. His discharge output was at a never seen best, he won all the battles I put him in; every supposedly physically superior pokemon had fallen at once when an unexpected fully charged tackle hit them in the stomach. Machoke, sudowoodo, lickitung… All their trainers had gambled strength and size would be enough, all had lost.

 _Can't._

Yet he was more aggressive than normal. His thunderbolts were far too powerful than needed in mock battles, almost every fight he was in, he aimed to kill, which was a serious sin in these parts. Only barely could I restrain him, and each time I saw him become angrier and angrier. And what made it worse was the others' presence.

 _Those eyes._

"Double battle team up, anyone? Pays double!"

"Eaten. They've now tasted man meat, never a good thing for wild mons."

"Rumor is Koga's up for the spot…"

 _Those eyes. On the water. In the dark._

I needed to release the others more and more from their pokeballs, overheating was becoming a problem. My prison experience was not just _my_ prison experience, it was also weeks of pokemon being held captive in pokeballs not designed for the task; pokemon needed to be released from time to time or the liquid energy form of the monster would struggle to break free, causing irreparable, permanent damage on the ball.

And so Callidora was released more often than needed, as was Dante, Paul, and Silk. And to keep them from bickering between each other, I always put them up to training or battles, and constant control required constant focus which I did not have because-

 _So sleepy._

And Callidora was blossoming, her size was easily doubling in a noticeable rate. The sunshine and ever-flowing freshwater river gave her all the healthy, organic nutrition needed, and constant combat built her muscles strong. The tip of her bud reached my chin, her limping from three days past was almost unnoticeable, yet she seemed unusually reserved, silent. And I couldn't shake the feeling of being _observed_ , that she was worrying over me, that the _pokemon_ was worrying over the _trainer._

 _Those eyes. Always, always there. Watching. Every night._

 _Keeping me awake._

"I swear they were right there!"

"Lance put Bruno on the trail though, they say he can track even clefairy…"

"A few days walk ahead, huge battle royale near K10!"

 _Eyes came with the body. Blue and white. Barely visible through the flames._

Unlike Pikachu and Callidora, Dante did not have a perfect battle record with trainers, but he too was improving, learning at a frightening rate. Loyal to a fault, he took punishment like no other pokemon of mine, my opponents' mouths dropped at the sight of the incredible, impossible damage he tanked. He had no recovery like Callidora, no damage output like Pikachu, yet he held his ground against the likes of gliscor and donphan. More often than not he lost, horribly. He ended each day with scars likely to remain permanent, but Arceus, every battle was a chance at regaining that forgotten predatory instinct, that fluid reptilian movements of a hunter lost to drug abuse, and I could feel we were close, so close, in mining the full potential Dante could offer and bringing it to light.

But he was hurt, hurting. I could see it, yet had no solution, his soul was set on the path of proving _this_ trainer of his right in keeping him, in giving him a chance, and he would rather die than disappoint me. I watched as his soul's purpose pushed him dangerously close to the upper limit of his body's tolerance, and couldn't help but wonder: What would happen when he exceeded it? Would the body, unable to keep up with the desperate need of approval it contained, simply collapse and move no more? Admittedly, I could put a stop to this, refrain from training and battling him against stronger opponents, but I was just-

 _So tired._

"Heard there's a minimum five badge limit though…"

"Poffins, get your poffins here!"

"Hey, do you see that?"

"Hey, hey man, stop that!"

 _I just want to sleep._

 _Can't._

 _Mind blurry…_

Having Paul out was the worst drag of all; he slowed our movement speed immeasurably and had nothing special to offer in battles or training. Now surrounded by other trainers, I could see even his trick room capabilities were below average; just the last day I watched a bronzor build one at half his speed and twice the duration. I had long stopped using him for psychic attack training on the others, they all had grown far superior mental defenses compared to Paul's offensive capabilities, all except…

Silk.

The only thing my persian was good for was hunting rattata. She did not listen to any command, refused to follow any strategy, and acted only slightly better than a completely wild pokemon; if not for my stubborn conviction that I needed to train at least one fully wild pokemon throughout my journey, I would have long released her. Nothing I put into her seemed to last, and what was worse, now that she was more out of her ball than usual, she was driving Pikachu insane; even though Pikachu's mutations put him at almost the same size as the classy cat pokemon, the instinctual weariness he felt remained, a weariness resurfaced each time Silk brought back prey in wild rattata or sandshrew.

And then she one day she brought a pikachu.

 _Tired._

"STOP IT!"

 _Wait, is this happening now?_

Multiple trainers rushed to our side where we were training, and many pokemon, ground type most of them, jumped on the action. Pikachu dodged and dodged, but they outnumbered him, yet he had already sent too many bolts before the rhyhorn, marshtomp, and vibrava got ahold of him.

"Dude, what is _wrong_ with you?"

 _What?_

Through half blurry eyes, I finally registered the scene in front of me in its entirety.

Silk the persian, electrocuted to death by Pikachu's thunderbolts.

Silk, _my_ persian, killed by Pikachu, _my_ starter.

"What the fuck happened?"

"Do you see that, do you see that!?"

"Pretty brutal shit mate."

People were pointing and gathering, yet I could only see the corpse of my pokemon.

A pokemon of mine had killed another.

And all I could feel was-

 _Tired._

"Seriously, what the fuck is _wrong_ with you?"

))(())((

 _What in Arceus' name are you doing, Reddy boy?_

This was not "The Champion" talking, I noticed. No, this one, tonight, it was one I called "The Rival".

Tonight was the eighth night, and any pretense I had for sleep was long gone. It didn't matter if I camped far from the riverbank, under the trees, or atop a small hill off route, no. Every night the eyes of the white-on-blue beast were watching, every night I sought fighting the irrational fear they invoked on me, every night I chased them like a madman, only to return sobbing and listen to the comforts Champion Red spewed in my ears.

 _I shall never doubt myself,_ he, I, us would say. _For I am the Champion. I am the one who stands above. If I deem it non-existent, then it shall be non-existent._

Except tonight it wasn't Champion Red, but The Rival.

He had appeared the night of Silk's death, and unlike Champion Red, his duty seemed to increase my doubts. For the past three nights I had been listening to the debates the two had, but tonight he was alone.

And again, he asked the same question in that cocky, know-it-all manner of his.

 _What are you doing here, Red? Here, on this road?_

Training, I was training and battling, I was-

 _I've always warned you,_ he snapped. _Smart mouthing; it don't suit you. You may be "training", but we both know it's a pretense. You're only here because it's a road leading towards the rockets. To Lavender._

Yes, true, so I could take my revenge on them, I knew that.

 _Why though?_

What did he mean?

 _Here's the Red I know. The Red I know lacks any and all human feelings, except arrogance. And that's what fuels his drive for championship, he can't bear to see someone else sit on that throne placed higher than him. He may lie and seek other motives, but we both know this is the sole truth._

 _Because remember,_ he cruelly continued, _I was there that day. The day you challenged. The day you swore you would meet him at the summit._

And I would, right after I took care of the rockets.

 _So you're putting your grand ambition on hold?_

No, never. One did not substitute for the other, why couldn't he just see this?

 _I tell what I see Reddy. And I see someone angry at losing time six months ago for a four-day delay caused by a bike fallout in Viridian Forest now take a casual leisurely stroll that will at best last at least a month. What happened to that fire Red, back then you had three years, now only two-and-a-half, and suddenly you've decided half-assing the journey?_

No, of course not, but back then I had grossly overestimated our leaders' fighting chance against me, back then, naive as I was, and without The Champion's advices, I hadn't known I could win badges almost anytime I wanted, at my first try. Here I was, in only six months with three badges already. The remaining two-and-a-half years would be more than enough, so much that I could afford this side-journey.

 _Then you've grown cocky, is that it? In success, you are now allowed a break to pursue your secondary dreams, which you've only discovered, what was it now, yeah, after the S.S. Anne, did even a month pass since then? And the dream itself was, what? Crush the rockets? Kill them? A vendetta?_

Why did he argue against this so much? I could do whatever I wanted, this was my journey, and I was Champion Red, so what I decided on _had_ to be right! And besides, why did he even care, destroying the drug cartel that was the rockets, destroying the terrorist organization that was the rockets, they all would count as a public service, wasn't that _his_ ambition all along?

 _You're confusing a dream with the actual self, and even then, you would be wrong. I'm not him; I'm you. I'm the promise you made with him. Your promise. Your self-claimed path of destiny._

 _And I'm only here to warn you Red._

 _You're straying._

))(())((

"Kind of small fry for you, aren't they?"

 _Who?_ I looked up with tired eyes from the battle that had just concluded. Callidora had made short work against the granbull, and I was just about to receive the agreed money from her trainer for the win when the woman had interrupted. Her bright red hair was cut extremely short and made quite the contrast with her olive skin; I wondered briefly whether or not her hair was dyed.

But I recognized her of course, she was just the right amount of famous in my field for me to know her. Not to mention, it was only three months ago that I had watched her speak her mind about me on an interview.

"You're Trainer Red, yes?" asked the seven badged Cinnabarian Trainer Naomi.

I just shut my eyes, any other movement would require too much effort.

"Cool. Been wanting to go against you – you made that victory against the Lieutenant seem so easy."

 _So, she's still keeping tabs on emerging trainers, potential rivals, despite having seven badges. Man, dedication is a rare quality these days. Makes a certain on "vacation" three badger I know look stupid,_ the mocking voice in my head began. _Now that's a real trainer if I've ever seen one, right Reddy boy?_

 _Do not mock The Champion._

"You up for it?" Trainer Naomi glanced down towards the fresh out of battle Callidora. "Or you need some time to rest?"

 _She thinks The Champion needs rest?_

I shook my head and walked toward the clearing she had shown, hoping not to pass out mid-way. A few trainers' heads turned at my action.

"Not big on talking, are you? Heard that about you, never believed the rumors though." She rolled her eyes and stood across me. An excitement rushed through the trainers around us; both Naomi and I were famous enough on our own, and here we were to battle. Regardless of the outcome, no doubt they would be entertained.

 _It's not your job to entertain though. Just focus on winning; you lose against her, you can't win against him at the summit._

 _It is not The Champion's mission to entertain the masses. And loss exists not in The Champion's vocabulary._

Finally, the two voices were aligned.

"I'm thinking, three vs one single? Or two if you're up to it?" She took a pokeball from her belt. "Your best two against my Lucky, that works?"

In shock, I just stared at her. Did she just, did she really insinuate-

 _She's mocking you. Thinks you'll need two for her one, heh, she doesn't know you, does she?_

 _She dares insult us?_

"No," I said. My voice was hoarse from having not spoken out loud for a few days, but it was audible, and, more importantly, firm. "No. No. _No._ I will _not_ fight at an advantage."

I looked at her straight in the eye. "One vs one."

A gasp echoed from the audience.

Trainer Naomi squinted her eyes. "Kid, I didn't ask you if you knew me before, my bad. But I'm a _seven_ badger, that's twice and more than yours. I wasn't _insulting_ you with my suggestion, I was making the fight _fair._ "

 _Lay it at her Red. Rip her._

"Seven badges. Two won though gym _studies._ " Her nostrils flared in anger, I had hit a mark. "I reckon my three _combat_ badges will give an equal footing enough, thank you." Up until this point at the exchange Callidora had been watching silently, but I didn't need her now. I recalled her back to the ball and blew a sharp whistle.

"Pikachu."

He was always close by, he just disliked being near Callidora when she was out. The air crackled, and with a scream the crowd parted, and out jumped Pikachu, centering himself in the makeshift circle and growling loudly. With his above average size, lean and visible muscles, and overcharged fur sparkling with health, he looked impressively prepared to _kill._

Naomi's eyed fixed on Pikachu for a moment before her grimaced face relaxed. She shrugged as she clicked the release button on her pokeball. "Arrogant, aren't you? Fine, one vs one it is. Just remember," The red light emitted was just beginning to take solid form, "I too won badges by combat, _five_ of them."

And suddenly: Fire.

Pikachu snarled and jumped back; but even I could feel the heat from where I was, I couldn't _imagine_ what it was like for him in such close proximity to the source. The grassy terrain had immediately caught fire with Naomi's pokemon's emergence, and Pikachu was jumping from side to side, trying to keep the soles of his feet at minimum contact with the ablaze earth, but no use, I hadn't even registered the order of the attack when a small wave of fire moved towards his way when Naomi's starter stomped the earth with one black hoof.

 _Dodge, dodge, dodge, dodge, dodge!_

He barely did, by rolling on his side, but still part of his fur was caught; no serious damage from what I could tell, just signed skin. Enough to hurt his pride though.

I tapped on my side and whistled. _Hit back quickly before he moves!_

And even while still rolling on his back, Pikachu expertly directed his tail to shoot thunder towards where the fire-wave had originated, but…

 _I thought I knew speed._

I knew nothing.

Lucky the rapidash was already running an imaginary circle, and all I could see was a _blur._ Horrified, I realized that before I had even registered what pokemon I was dealing with, the fire horse had done three tours around Pikachu, each time the radius shrinking.

And what passed behind those flying hooves were only flames.

 _We're trapped in a fire spin._

No, no, _no._

A quick double tap. _Hit him!_

Trapped in the middle of the arena, Pikachu tried as much as he could to aim and fire lightning in succession, but the rapidash was just too _fast,_ and the heat and flames were closing in, the space Pikachu could operate in was becoming narrower and narrower, and soon he didn't bother with even aiming anymore, just random bolts, but none hit Lucky _at all,_ and I could see the trap, only a few more rounds were remaining until the fire completely reached Pikachu, and the only way I could save him was, was to surrender-

 _No._

I could feel Naomi's curious eyes on me; the battle was over, wasn't it?

 _No._

The difference in power, speed, and strength was too obvious; why wasn't I recalling my pokemon, she just couldn't understand why I wasn't giving up.

 _NO._

One tap. Short and loud. Pikachu's favorite order.

 _Get physical._

If I could just make contact, then Pikachu's static fur would take care of the rest, but…

The only way to do so would be to jump in the wildly running rapidash's path.

The bulging eyes of Naomi when Pikachu darted proved her suspicions: I was crazy for ordering that.

And so was Pikachu for obeying.

Yet he did; and only, only when in his path did I notice how _small_ Pikachu was compared to the equine inferno burning with literal horsepower, and only then did I notice the bent head of the fire horse where the polished, shiny horn ready to pierce all in its path stood, only then did I notice the heavy hooves capable of trampling even primeape underneath their sheer power, only then did I notice that both in agility and speed this pokemon was _superior_. The outcome was obvious, impending, but everything had taken place in less than a millionth fraction of a second, and there was no time for Pikachu to move out of the way, he was about to be-

The red light hit just in the nick of time, and suddenly Pikachu was alone on the field.

"I see," said Trainer Naomi coldly, as she attached the pokeball in her hand back to her belt. "So, you're _that_ kind of trainer." She turned her back before firing her last shot.

"Congratulations, Trainer Red. I give up. You _won._ "

))(())((

 _Well, technically you did. Even in my book. The "get-physical" tactic was solid, we've seen Pikachu's fur take down Diamondback, what's the my-little-pony compared to that monster?_

 _If she were a Champion, she would have had the stomach for the kill. But she wasn't, she was less, and hence weak, so she could only bow and leave the sacred arena. The win is ours, and The Champion proves undefeated._

Once again it was night, and we had finally reached where the road ended and the flowing near river met the sea: Route K10. Out of Trainer's Haven, Rock Tunnel was only a day's ride south, but I was simply _exhausted,_ ten straight days of battling and training _without any sleep_ was enough to drive anyone mad.

Hopefully though, in Rock Tunnel I could find peace. Because there-

 _The eyes. Again._

The blue on white body. No, wait, white on blue.

 _There. Again._

 _No sleep tonight. Again._

I shut my eyes in desperation.

 _So, you're that kind of trainer._

 _That kind of trainer._

 _That kind._

"Urrgh," I grunted. Why were those words bothering me so much? Had I not won? Was the cost not worth the victory?

 _Don't think if it causes discomfort._

My eyes opened in surprise: This was a new voice. Neither mocking nor arrogant, this one was soothing, feminine.

 _Anything that harms you, anything that hurts you; just ignore them. Bury them. Forget them. Pretend they never happened, stay silent on them. Do not talk about them, ever. Talking is reliving, and that's too painful._

 _Have to agree with the lady, Red. Out of mind, out of worry; and maybe that way you can finally focus on the your real goal and also drop this rocket business altogether._

"Urrrrgh," I put my hands to my head and rubbed my temples. _So noisy._

 _Either the rockets or any other obstacle; so long they remain on The Champion's path, they shall be swept aside._

 _Yeeesh, he can't go and do both now, can he? The rockets are secondary, they can be dealt with once he becomes champion._

 _Too hurtful. The rockets tortured us, we don't want that again, let's simply forget about them._

"Shut up," I muttered, and gradually my voice increased. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut. Up. All of you. SHUT UP!"

The last one was an outright cry, and startled, all my pokemon woke up.

And unfortunately, that was when _the eyes_ decided to strike.

"Wha- Uurghhh!"

Impossibly fast; the main body burst out of the river and hit me. The attack was too fast for my team to react; under the astonished looks of Pikachu, Callidora, Dante, and Paul, I was thrown far away from their protective circle and hit the ground with a thundering crash.

 _That's three ribs busted Red. What the hell hit you?_

 _It doesn't matter._ I gritted my teeth and stood up. _It's still five against one._

Pikachu didn't even hesitate. The moment I had been launched into the air, I could feel the air crackle, and no matter what our mysterious assailant was, if it came from the river, it was likely _water_ type. Blinding flashes of light accompanied by roaring thunder ripped through the dark, one, two, three bolts. From where I stood, I clearly saw the _blue_ and _white_ body fall onto the ground near our campfire.

 _The beast is slain. The Champion still stands._

 _Not that quickly. Never that easy._

In horror, I realized he was right.

Callidora was smarter when battling, and it was likely that which saved Dante's and Pikachu's lives. Both sprang atop the body the moment it had hit the ground, ready to confirm the kill through claw and tooth, but no, it was all only _bait._

 _What comes around goes around._

The pokemon attacked twice in a split second: A thin, focused jet of water aimed directly between Dante's eyes, and snapping teeth attached to a giant jaw ready to bite Pikachu's head off. So unexpected were his movements that even the agile Pikachu could not avoid it; death was imminent had Callidora not pulled both of the pokemon back with her pre-prepared vines.

Yet the beast was skilled in improvisation as well. A twist of the head; and suddenly water pierced through Dante's shoulder, and both of Pikachu's hind legs were caught in the monster's jaws. Struggled and twist as he might, he couldn't break free, and the teeth were sinking deeper and deeper.

I held my side and tried rushing back towards our campsite where the battle took place, but my pace was too slow, and at each breath it felt as if multiple knives were stabbing at my side.

I would be too late.

And without my orders, Pikachu would do the one thing he could to break free.

 _This monster is a genius._

Pikachu's fur sparkled menacingly, and he unleashed all he had. In close contact, no way that wouldn't hurt, even a tyranitar would shirk at that output. The clenched tight jaw broke wide open, and Pikachu quickly crawled his way out as far as the two still functioning legs would let him.

But unfortunately, at the moment of Pikachu's desperate attack, Callidora's vines were still attached to Pikachu, so part of that output travelled through directly at her… and even worse, through her main body and second vine, at Dante, who while would be experiencing a reduced voltage, did not share Callidora's type resistance.

And even _with_ the resistance and reduced voltage calculated; that still was the entirety of Pikachu's stored electricity, and it would definitely hit hard _._

Only a few steps were left till I made it, but I could see it was already over. The beast had taken the full blunt of Pikachu's lightning and had collapsed near the fire; no water pokemon could live after such discharged energy. Dante had dropped immediately when the indirect lightning had hit, Pikachu was immobilized and out of juice, and Callidora was twitching and spasming hard on her feet; zero distance thunder would do that to anyone. Only Paul stood healthy and registered the scene through unintelligent eyes, as an added insult, the monster hadn't even directed any attack towards my slowbro.

Speaking of, now closer to the light, I could see while the attacker was indeed blue, and did have a patch of white around his ears and tails, this beast was, was, was not-

 _Was not what Red? Finish the thought. What did you expect?_

 _No! Never! Forget you ever saw it, forget you ever witnessed it, forget even the name of Suic-_

 _What's that smell?_

The third thought was mine and mine alone, uninfluenced, and took priority over all else. Finally arriving at the scene, my nose wrinkled at the stench, so familiar, something from my days at training school, something important that was the key here…

 _No. No. The team first._

Dante was bleeding through his shoulder, but both of Pikachu's legs had been chewed, he needed inspection first. I knelt towards my passed-out starter and tried feeling around the bite marks. What worried me was if the bones were broken; if so, healing that was beyond my capabilities. Luckily though, the snapping jaw had only cut deep through the flesh and missed the skeletal structure. A mixed gel of sitrus and pecha berries would be enough to avoid infections, I just needed to reach for my bag-

Suddenly, I recognized the stench.

 _Wacan berries._

A clenched fist hit me at the back of my head, and I could feel the blood. Knocked over by the impact, the pokemon turned me over on the floor; helpless as I was, I couldn't help but watch as the clawed hands reached around and wrapped my throat. A body the same size as myself bent close and looked me in the eye before slowly beginning to strangle me, and as I ran out of breath, I couldn't help but think: _Why strangle? Why turn me over and look at my face, why not use any elemental powers, why not bite my head off, why strangle and watch?_

 _Because it's personal for this pokemon._

 _It wants to see me suffer._

For the first time, I tried looking at my assailant clearly. Brown eyes above a jaw of sharp teeth; Pikachu's blood on them still visible. Whitish fur covered the long ears and tails, and the body itself was protected by a thick, brown _shell._

 _The turtle pokemon._

The wartortle's grip on my neck tightened.

 _Think Red dammit, think! Or we're all going down!_

All my pokemon except Paul were either down or injured, and he would be entirely useless against this opponent. But… through teary eyes, behind the wartortle's shell, I could see Paul's eyes glowing a violet color, which meant he actually _was_ attacking on a psychic plane, his slow processing brain had finally caught up on the action even without my directions.

I choked, and a violent grin formed on the turtle pokemon's face. _Then why is nothing happening?_

 _Because its mental defenses are stronger._

 _Which means this isn't a wild pokemon. It's trained._

And suddenly it all clicked in place. I remembered where I had seen this pokemon last, and to whom it used to belong.

"Da- ahhh," I couldn't finish the sentence, apparently the wartortle had enjoyed the scene enough and was ready for its end. But I had to; one sentence, one sentence would save me.

"Da- nielle," I managed, and by the way its eyes squinted, I knew I had guessed right. "No- not. Me."

Nothing changed in its demeanor.

 _It's trained. It must understand some notion of speech. Use simple words._

My arms and legs were spasming independently, I had no oxygen left in my cells, and the wartortle had no intent of letting go yet.

 _Or die. And forget. There is peace in death._

 _Unacceptable. The Champion is eternal._

One. Last. Try.

 _Make it believe you._

With enormous effort, I stopped my arms and legs from trembling. Its eyes were barely visible under the light of the campfire, but I sought and found them anyway. In my last breath, I told the truth.

"I did not kill your trainer."

With a deafening crash, the turtle pokemon fell backwards on his shell, and suddenly I was reunited with air.

"Aaaaaaaaagggggh!"

I choked on its abundance, how had I never appreciated oxygen before?

 _You never do until you miss it._

It took me a moment to stand up again, and I was greeted with the curious sight of Paul standing over the wartortle, his eyes still glowing.

 _Would'ya look at that, the dingus saved us. Your words broke its concentration, and whoop, enter Paul. He shut the mind from the inside._

But he couldn't keep him under for long, which meant I had to wake up either Callidora or Pikachu soon if I wanted a chance against this beast.

 _Beast is a right word indeed. You notice it used your own tactics against you? Baiting the enemy close and lunging when unexpected, no wonder Callidora saved the others, she recognized the trick from having used it before._

 _And not just you either. Wasn't there this trainer moaning about losing some wacan berries before; well, here's the culprit. Probably saw how they provided insulation against electric attacks and rubbed the juice all over its own body, smart._

 _And the timing of the attack!_ The voice in my head kept going while I tried treating Callidora's shivers by force-feeding her cheri berries from my bag. _Danielle told us she had released her pokemon to the wild before Jessie arrived; but a pokemon can't just leave that easily, can it? It probably hid in the city canals near, watching the apartment. And it was only after you left that Danielle was dead, so naturally it assumed you were the killer. And it's been tracking you ever since, watching, observing, studying, and waiting for your weakest moment! And you always used Pikachu, Dante, and Callidora for battles, but rarely Paul, so it couldn't plan enough counters for him, and outright ignored him. Flawed, but not bad for a pokemon without a trainer at its side, am I right?_

 _And you know what this means? The mystery of the blue and white pokemon stalking you at night, the eyes, it's solved! Clearly, it was all this guy-_

"Is it?" I asked, joining the conversation in my head as I walked towards Pikachu with the necessary ointment for his treatment in my hand. "Is it _clear?_ Can any one of you in my mind can say for absolute certain that the beast haunting me was _this_ one," I pointed towards Danielle's wartortle, "and not the _other_ one, the one we dream of? Can anyone say for certain we will finally _sleep_ tonight?"

…

"So I thought," I muttered and began rubbing the gel on Pikachu's legs, making sure enough was left for Dante.

 _Such thoughts are irrelevant._ It was The Champion's turn to take over my psyche. _All that matters is fate has once again bowed to us._

"And that means?" I mumbled as I worked in the shrinking light of the campfire. _Starting with Dante for light would've been better,_ I thought.

 _The beast is formidable. Worthy. And without a trainer._

I dropped the gel in my hands in surprise. Curiously, I glanced towards where the wartortle lay still.

 _It would be a fine addition to a Champion's team._

"So he would, wouldn't he? I muttered. "So he would…"

))(())((

 **Author's note:**

 **Yellow game, Red meets a squirtle in Vermilion, which he also** _ **technically**_ **did in my fic. Surprise surprise.**

 **Wacan berry is an in-game berry consumable that reduces, I think, fifty percent off an electric attack (could be twenty-five). My mom in HeartGold used to buy it all the time and I would stick it to my red gyarados; what an absolute beast that thing was in game.**

 **Red's been having a few shitty weeks, don't blame him too much if he seems too edgy and angsty and crazy. I personally find him more fun to write crazy.**

 **Next chapter: Sunday or Monday, not sure. Then another one immediately after (The reason I'm doing so quickly is I really want these three-four chapters fresh in memory and read in a row).**


	20. Chapter 16: Abyss

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Abyss:

 _A red sun rises._

So it did. The crimson light bounced off the river surface and settled, slowly basking me in its warmth.

 _This dawn is yours._

The night's horror lay defeated at my feet. The victory had re-forged my will, and for the first time in the last ten days I knew exactly who I was.

 _Grasp it._

The Rival's protests were swept aside, The Lady's whimpers banished.

 _Embrace it._

I had begun this road in pursuit of vengeance. The felons had dared crossed my path and struck me repeatedly. Despite knowing who I was, they had tirelessly sought and plotted my demise. And though I admitted up until today I had felt doubt whether this was the correct course for my climb to the summit, doubts other aspects of my self had jumped on to plead their own cases of cowardice, last night had been a sign, a gift from Mistress Fate who had bowed at my presence.

For last night I had been tested at my weakest. When my body was failing and my mind was fractured, when the thoughts of retreat were at their strongest, fate had presented me my dragon: A beast hellbent on vengeance, stronger and prepared for me even more than the so-called leaders I had faced, had nearly succeeded in claiming my life.

Nearly.

 _Say it._

The beast would be mine; I would add it as another extension of my superior might, make it another member of my team for it was worthy.

Worthy of me.

 _Say it!_

Worthy of The Champion.

))(())((

The glow in Paul's eyes subsided the same moment the first ray of sunshine hit last night's camp turned battlefield. He had been keeping Officer Danielle's wartortle under a hypnosis induced sleep all night, not taking any rest from this task against the stronger, better trained monster for even the most basic of necessities. His timely intervention had saved my life when everyone else in my team had been crushed under the wartortle's rampage, but I still couldn't help but smirk when Paul finally collapsed under the mental exhaustion.

 _Weak. Not worthy of a champion. Not worthy of The Champion._

I nodded to myself as I recalled him and then drew a sharp breath when a sudden pain on my side interrupted my thoughts. All night I had tended to my pokemon, healing and fixing their injuries to the best of my abilities, and in the process had forgotten to deal with my own broken ribs from the wartortle's assault. Groaning, my hands reached my nearby bag, and I hoped the few chilanol pills left would be enough to keep me together until I reached Lavender.

 _They won't be. For any lesser man. But you-_

 _-are no ordinary man,_ I finished the thought and chunked a handful of the pills. The dry taste of chilan berry made me reach out to my bag for some water, but my attention shifted towards the passed out wartortle when I saw one of his ears twitch. With Paul out of the picture, it was highly likely the turtle pokemon would wake up any minute now, if it hadn't already _._

I checked the trio of my pokemon surrounding Danielle's wartortle. Callidora had taken the front, she stood directly beside me and had already extended eight thorny vines ready to catch and bind our opponent's limbs before he had the chance to retract them into the safety of his thick shell. Her injuries had been the easiest to treat, the only damage she had suffered was from Pikachu's fully discharged contact attack. After an emergency treatment of cheri berries to help her get over the paralysis induced spasms and twitches, she was almost at full battle capability. The only visible damage I could see were the large, multiple black spots coloring five of the vines, ash gray areas from where Pikachu's sparks had caught flame. I frowned at the sight and pondered on cutting them now before the rot settled but decided otherwise when I took a second glance at the muscular arms and legs of the wartortle. A Callidora with less than her regular number of vines could prove catastrophic right now.

 _She will prevail. She is part of us, part of the team. She will do her duty, as she did last night._

Yes, when the wartortle had ambushed us, Callidora had been by far the one who had performed the best against him. She had seen through his feint and had saved both Dante and Pikachu's lives with her actions, and her injuries had been caused not by her foe, but by her own teammate.

 _Our starter acted rash last night. Unfit._

Disappointment swelled my heart at the sight of my pokemon positioned to the wartortle's right. Once, Pikachu's eyes had blazed with the fires of challenge, his oversized physique and bright fur crackling with excess electricity had proved him the absolute pinnacle of his species. Just yesterday he had taken down a seven-badger's monster, fearlessly throwing himself under the thundering hooves of Naomi's inferno incarnate rapidash, knowing fully well victory would come at the cost of life-threatening injuries, but it would have been worth it.

Judging by how he looked today, nobody would believe the two pokemon were the same. Gone was yesterday's unyielding monster, and all that faced me today in his stead were the cold, shriveled eyes of a defeated _rat._ Depleted of his naturally generated electricity, his fur had lost that healthy gold color and was now a muddy brown. And as if his broken spirit and insufficient charge were not enough problems on their own, I also had to deal with his crippled body; the wartortle's powerful jaw had not reached the bone but had teared through pretty much everything else. Stitching the muscle sinew together was beyond my current abilities, so I had only applied ointments to prevent infections and bandaged the wounds.

But it didn't take a medical license to see that Pikachu was immobilized, any further strain on his lower body and hindlegs could cause irreparable nerve damage. And so my starter sat motionless, silently and refraining from any unnecessary action, the only remaining indication of life in his body the hateful eyes directed towards the wartortle.

 _Never has he given his all and not won,_ I thought. _Never until last night._

 _He is the apex within his species, but a pikachu can never amount to more than a pikachu. Last night was the first he matched against a physically stronger opponent unprepared and without our guidance._

 _He fared miserably._

 _You know this to be true:_

 _He is not worthy._

I carefully considered this claim. Had Pikachu not helped win all my badges, had he not saved me from the burning tent in the battle under Mt. Moon? Had he not proved vital in our fights against the rockets north of Cerulean and on the S.S. Anne? How was he _not_ a worthy Champion's mon?

 _Always with our directions. Always with our orders. He refuses the ball, does not cooperate in battles, and causes discord in the team. He is and never has been exceptional._

 _We are. And so far, it was us who carried him, levitated him to our level of greatness._

 _But this day is ours, and we must accept the truth._

 _He is not worthy._

I saw it so clearly now, how had I been so blind? Foolish I was to attempt this journey with a _pikachu_ of all things, a weak species whose only merit was acting as nourishing prey to those greater. I made my decision; my starter would only stick with me until I reached Lavender where I would cash him in to afford stronger monsters, beasts finally _worthy_ of my stature. I snickered when I imagined the profit I would make, luring rich suckers ready to pay atrocious amounts for Trainer Red's Pikachu would be so easy.

And I would not settle with Pikachu alone, no, Paul would follow right after. It was clear to me now for Champion Red to emerge, the weakest links of Pokemon Trainer Red needed to be shed. Only Callidora had shown the insight and potential necessary to remain at my team, and as for Dante…

 _An unknown. Has shown use and spirit but is physically weak. His growth must be observed._

Yes, there was still some time for Dante, he had been the easiest to treat last night with only a small shoulder wound and a few burn marks from indirect lightning; and now he prowled behind Danielle's wartortle crouched on four feet, waiting for my signal to strike should my plan to win Danielle's wartortle over go wrong.

 _But if all goes well…_

A puff of smoke escaped Dante's mouth. Pikachu's lifeless tail twitched ever so slightly. Callidora's vines smacking against the ground gave me the final confirmation.

The wartortle was now awake.

The tension my pokemon felt was palpable as the turtle pokemon rose to his feet, and I marveled at his sight. I had misjudged his height last night, he was easily taller than myself, and the countless scars on his muscular limbs showed this beast was no stranger to battle. I was suddenly reminded of a single line in Officer Danielle's bio, "praised for her close-combat battle style", as I recalled how easily this pokemon had last night baited my team to close the distance between them and then how quickly he had dispatched them.

 _Danielle trained this one well,_ I allowed as I further inspected the beast under direct sunlight. His shell was impossibly thick, and his eyes blazed with a calculating fury as he checked his surroundings, his gaze first settling on Callidora, then moving quickly on to Pikachu and back towards me in less than a second. He didn't turn and expose his back towards us to see Dante, but nevertheless, I understood he was aware of him; he just didn't see my fire pokemon as that big of a threat.

A good minute passed with all of us standing still, each party sizing up the other. I could see the gears in the wartortle's head turning; he was trying to put together why I hadn't killed him while he was helplessly asleep, and if he still had the chance to go for my life with the three this timed prepared but also injured pokemon in between. Obviously, he still thought me the murderer of his ex-trainer and was after my blood.

 _Act now before he strikes._

Slowly, I reached my arm out forwards and clenched all but my index finger into a fist, leaving my hand pointing towards him. Then, never increasing the speed of my movements, I pointed downwards and slowly dug the tip of my nail into the soft earth and began drawing an upside-down shape.

His jaw snapping in frustration was all the proof I needed to know he had recognized the letter R, the same letter I had so far seen sewn on the clothes of Butch's gang, James, and Jessie who Danielle had claimed to know.

Apparently, this wartortle was present at some of those meetings and harbored the same ill feelings towards them his master had felt.

 _How much more is needed to confirm him a gift from fate?_

I broke the silence first. "I did not kill Trainer Lotus," I said, using Officer Danielle's lesser known trainer's name from her bio, and was rewarded with the instant look of surprise on her wartortle's face.

" _They_ did." I dug deeper into the R's end with my nail, and hatred distorted the wartortle's features.

 _He is very likely to believe you._

 _This will be easy._

 _As all tasks should be in front of The Champion._

"And I'm after them," I continued my speech, "for _revenge._ You are not the only one hurt by their actions." I traced with my other hand the scar James had left on my face and noticed the wartortle was indeed following my finger. "And when I find them…"

I snapped my fingers, and Dante jumped from the wartortle's behind, making a perfect landing on my other side, and spit flames that scorched the R carved earth.

"And when I find them, I will _end_ them."

Admittedly, I had thought this pre-prepared flamboyant show of mine would have sparked more of a reaction on the wartortle's face, but instead, I watched the previously established anger on his face melt and leave its place to a casual disinterest, his eyes weren't even watching me anymore but rested on Pikachu.

 _We're losing him._

 _I have another card to play, patience._

I cleared my throat, hoping the older records Bill had sent me about Danielle and her team didn't contain any false info. "In her last words," I once again addressed the wartortle, "Danielle explained to me why she had to release you. It was to protect you from the rockets' wrath, especially Jessie's." The wartortle's eyes blinked slightly faster and I understood this was another familiar name, but still his interest lay elsewhere.

 _Time to play it._

 _Not yet._

"But even the best trainers often misjudge their pokemon," I said. "Danielle was wrong in thinking you a quitter. You stuck around, spied on her apartment, and mistakenly thought me her killer. And for the last ten days you tracked me, planned against me, and seized the chance to strike me at my worst. Those do not seem the actions of a quitter to me."

Still no fire in those eyes.

 _Fine._

 _Now._

"And while we sit here," I took a deep breath to accentuate my point, "the _real_ killers of your master are roaming free! So answer me, did I really misjudge you? Are you the kind of mon who would leave his master unavenged?"

I paused, ready to reveal my big gun. "Join me, else your anger will be forever misfocused. Join me," I hesitated only ever so slightly before using the nickname Danielle had given her wartortle, "Join me, _Arsenal._ "

This did it. His entire demeanor shifted once he heard his old name, and he crouched and turned his face towards me, no, towards Callidora-?

Boom.

Not even Pikachu's quick eyes could have registered the attack, it was only natural for Callidora to be sucker punched. Faster than her vines, the hard shell hit Callidora face front, and before she could cry out in pain and release her defensive powders, the head and limbs of Arsenal reemerged from the shell's holes as powerful arms grabbed the startled Callidora from her sides, claws drawing greenish blood.

 _He couldn't!_

Apparently, he _could_ , Arsenal was _that_ strong. He lifted Callidora with a grunt and threw her limp body exactly towards where Pikachu was; in a second Callidora was airborne and crashed on top of Pikachu.

 _How-_

I jumped out of the way as Dante roared his flames towards him, but what good would they do against Arsenal, the duo's types alone were a mismatch. Ignoring the flames, Arsenal tucked his head and limbs back into his protective shell, and suddenly I understood exactly how he had managed to move this _fast_.

So did Dante, albeit quite painfully. The hard shell flew at almost the same speed as lightning and hit Dante mid-stomach, flinging him all the way back towards where Pikachu and Callidora were trying to untangle themselves from each other.

And just like that, in under a total of three seconds, Arsenal's hands found their place around my throat for the second time in the last twelve hours. He lifted me without loosening his grip, my feet helplessly dangled in the air as a calm realization settled in that this was _it._ In one move he would snap my neck, in less than a second, I would cease to exist, but in truth, I feared the death which faced me not one bit.

"Do it," I managed through my teeth, and the clawed hands flexed.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

And fell.

Instinctively, I checked my chest and heartbeat; yes, it still beat. And it seemed Arsenal hadn't dropped me in fear of reinforcements, Dante was still on the ground and Callidora had only now recovered from that throw, but I saw the fronds under her bud twitch and her nostrils flare. She was done with vines and restriction tactics, she was angry enough to kill and her razor-sharp leaves were ready for the deed.

I hurriedly threw my pokeball. To her utter disbelief, she was suddenly recalled back into confinement.

I would deal with her disappointment later. Right now, the mystery of why Arsenal hadn't killed me was more pressing.

But to my surprise, that question was easily answered when I looked up at the wartortle. Absolute disgust and frustration had distorted his face into almost unrecognizable features, but it was all directed towards where one claw was pointing.

Towards the scorched earth where I had drawn the letter R.

That was when I understood the mistake I had done in dealing with this pokemon: I had not factored in _age_ and _experience_. Arsenal was not a starter trained to obey my commands like Pikachu, he was not a gift to me from a loved one like Callidora, not a cash trade like Paul, and not a desperately lost Dante. No, unlike my team's background, Arsenal had lived an entire history of his own, one filled with the memories of his own teammates, own victories, losses, and badges, one filled with the memories of a trainer he had loved so much he would move the earth and about to avenge her; and here I was, entirely disregarding that past, offering him a fresh new start with me.

 _Lesson learned._

The problem was not that Arsenal didn't believe my innocence, he was absolutely sold on the idea that it was the rockets that deserved true punishment. But in my proposition, I had only explained to him what I already was going to do and had asked directly for his obedience, an insult to the years of bond he had shared with his previous trainer. And he had repaid the insult in true pokemon fashion; claw for claw, tooth for tooth.

In short, I couldn't win him over so quickly. First, he needed to see me deliver, namely, I would have to find the rockets. Only after I had done my end, and only after he had truly avenged his ex-master would his pokemon pride allow him to shift allegiances.

 _Drives one hell of a bargain._

 _But we can see it. He is Champion material._

"Fair enough," I muttered, not sure if it was directed to the voice in my head or the invisible deal between Arsenal and myself I was about to commit to. I recalled Dante back to his ball and hesitated as my fingers brushed over Pikachu's.

 _He is worthless, crippled, and passed out. We still have a three-day long bike ride to Lavender. We cannot allow him to drag us down. Do it._

An ominous chill rushed through me as for the first time since my journey my starter ball saw voluntary action. The red light hit Pikachu, and the dematerialized body was trapped in a pure energy form.

I closed my eyes, disturbed by the action I had just committed. I just couldn't shake the feeling as if I had taken part in some atrocity.

 _For Champion Red to emerge, Pokemon Trainer Red must shed his skin._

"Yes," I whispered erratically, almost angrily to myself. "You're… right." I kicked a patch of dirt as I walked to my bag to pull out one shiny new pokeball and threw it at the watching Arsenal's feet.

"Nothing more than an arrangement," I announced loudly, toning the words carefully to make sure even if he didn't understand the meaning of my words, his instincts would point him towards what I meant.

"I will find you the rockets. We will kill them together, and once we do, you're _mine._ If we fail to, or if you run out of patience, I'll simply break this ball and set you free. In the meantime, I want at least your cooperation, if I can't have your loyalty. Deal?" I asked, raising one eyebrow.

He gave me one look before he bent over and took the ball in his hand. Just one.

But it was enough for me to understand last night and today had not been a fluke. That he could face my team anytime, anywhere, and always win.

That should I fail my promise, he would settle for my life instead of the rockets', and there would be nothing I could do to prevent this.

 _Click._

After the flash of red light, I was the only one left on the field. Slowly, I walked towards where Arsenal previously stood and reached for the ball, clipping it to the right side of my belt. When I returned to the Aggronator, small mud stains had formed on my sneakers.

 _The wet ground from Arsenal's aqua jetting_ , I noticed. In her prime, Danielle must had been a force to be reckoned with if she had taught Arsenal aqua jetting: A technique that allowed water pokemon to start an unbelievably fast tackle attack by releasing high pressure jets of water which propelled them forwards. Provided their target was in a linear direction, an aqua jetting pokemon was almost always guaranteed to reach and strike his opponent first, though this technique was very difficult to maintain since the rival pokemon rarely stood still and a missed aqua jet attack would leave the monster open for an easy counter.

But judging from effectiveness Arsenal had utilized this style against Callidora and Dante today, it seemed he would not suffer from such a problem at all.

 _Truly, Trainer Lotus has put extreme effort into her team,_ I thought sadly. I kicked the pedals on the Aggronator and the bike jumped forwards. _I can only imagine what a monster Blaine is to have killed half of a team that had Arsenal in it._

 _It matters very little "what a monster" they are._

 _True,_ I agreed and joined the chanting.

 _For all will fall equally before us._

 _For all will fall before The Champion._

))(())((

The graffitied outer city walls were illuminated by Dante's tail fire.

" _God is dead, but the Devil roams free."_

Not the worst welcome I could expect from Lavender Town.

A few hours ago, I had emerged from one of the exits of the Rock Tunnel cavern system that connected route K10 and Lavender Town. The journey had lasted a total of two and a half days; after settling the situation with Arsenal, it had taken only a few hours to reach Rock Tunnel's entry point, and only another two days to exit the caverns – once we were on the rocky, rough terrain, I had really gotten my money's worth from the Aggronator 430. I had cycled through the tunnel road with relative ease, and Dante had accompanied me throughout the entirety of the journey, his ablaze tail acting as a necessary light source. I also had been relatively lucky with the wild pokemon I had encountered: A colony of mawile had snapped their jaws at me as I had passed but had refused to approach closer, and one lonesome loudred had just grumbled at the sight of me.

 _As if they could have stopped us._

My exit point from the caves had however been slightly off, I had emerged too far east. I knew that an easier, manmade path to the city existed somewhere near the western exits, but trusting the Aggronator's capabilities, I had decided against backpedaling and had simply cycled downhill until I had reached a portion of the city walls. The only one injured by this ordeal had been Dante; he had already been suffering from fatigue since I had forced him to travel at my bike's pace in Rock Tunnel, and during this final off-route part of our journey, he had many times lost the ground under his feet from exhaustion and rolled down the steep hill until he was stopped by crashing against something larger like a tree stomp or protruding boulder. At the end of it all, his leathery skin was covered in numerous bruises and small cuts, most of them bleeding.

 _And yet, he has endured, as expected of one with potential._

I agreed with the thought and therefore still did not recall Dante despite his many open wounds; if he couldn't even handle a two-day's long journey and a few scratches, he was not worthy to be on a champion's team. Besides, since the sun had already set when I had arrived by the city walls, I still had need of his light to find the city's gates, and it was so that I encountered the red colored graffiti.

 _God is dead, but the Devil roams free._

I grinned to myself as I switched gears. Lavender didn't know it just yet, but God was very much alive, and he was about to bless this city with his presence once I found my way in.

"Move it," I snarled towards Dante who dutifully dropped on all fours and picked up his pace. I had to hand it to him, not once had he disobeyed in the slightest manner throughout this journey. He had not lifted a single defying gaze or given a complaining growl; he had acted exactly like the perfect pokemon, demonstrating utter and complete obedience.

 _It's because he is used to abuse._

The thought was so sudden, accompanied by such contempt that I hit the brakes in surprise. It took me a moment to recognize the acidic voice of The Rival, his voice had been missing in my head along with The Lady's for the past two days, and frankly, I had never questioned their absence. The gift of sleep that had come with the quiet had stopped me from any further inquiry on the subject.

But now the voice had returned, and it forced me to look at, no, _see_ Dante, see what exactly I had put him through, see the bones sticking out from the past two days' weak diet and extra effort, see the half-closed eyes on the verge of passing out, see the dried out blood gushing from his open wounds. Horrified, my hand reached to my belt, _of course_ I had to recall him, of course I had to rush him to a pokecenter and make sure everything was alright. Disgusted by myself, I held his pokeball in trembling hands, ready to click the button and-

 _We CANNOT pamper him!_

"Urrggghh…" My two hands grasped my head by the sides, what was happeni-

 _Do you imagine Lance cuddling his dragonite at night, wrapping them in blankets? Do you think Agatha babies her gengar,_ _do you think_ _Leonal Oak fought a war while shielding his team from the world's horrors?_

 _No, and they were only champions. You are THE Champion. Dante can rest when his duty is done._

My breath steadied, and my hands held the handles again.

 _You still need his light until the city gates, only after should he be allowed to rest. So, he will either finish the journey, or he will not. He is either worthy The Champion, or he is not. There exists no in-between._

"Yes," I whispered, then gradually my voice increased. "Yes! So, MOVE IT!" I outright yelled the last part to my charmeleon as I switched to an even faster gear and pushed the pedals. With a metallic groan, the Aggronator darted forwards, Dante running just behind.

And when Lavender Town's gates were finally in sight after another hour of cycling, Dante proved he was at least _somewhat_ worthy.

He only collapsed after we took our first step into Lavender.

I shook my head and sighed as I recalled him.

 _Couldn't even make it to the pokecenter on his own two feet._

 _Disappointing,_ was my last thought on the matter.

))(())((

 _You are magnificent._

I touched the mirror with my right palm and agreed with the voice in my head.

 _I am magnificent._

Travelling long distances, cycling on rough terrain, and activities like cave dwelling had all shaped my body into an athletic, _perfect_ figure. The lines dividing my abdominal muscles were clear, my broad shoulders made any shirt I wore a tight fit, and the tan I had received from regular time spent outdoors added a healthy glow to this lean, but muscular body of mine. No trainer my age looked this _strong_ , no trainer emitted such a confident, _intimidating_ aura.

I was seventeen, and ahead of a good ninety-percent of trainers much older than me. I was nowhere near my prime, and already the world bowed to me.

But…

Slowly, my finger traced my scar's reflection on the mirror – only one of the gifts James and his victreebel had left on me while he had tortured me, along with the many smaller scars and burn marks from the return fire of Jessie's wobbuffet. My finger moved even lower and found the hole on my shoulder where Butch or Rex, couldn't exactly recall which, had shot an arrow at, and finally, my hand grazed at the sucker marks distributed evenly across my torso left by Caleb Luthor's, _Archer's_ octillery.

I tasted bile in my mouth and watched my eyes narrow with visible hatred in my reflection.

These scars, these were the proof that someone had dared hurt _me._ That someone had dared leave their mark on _me._

They were the constant reminder that I too had once been _less._ Not perfect.

Ordinary.

The glass cracked; I didn't even notice in anger I had put my fist through the mirror. I ran water over the wound and slowly picked out the stuck glass shards, watching a small amount of blood turn the sink red.

Gritting my teeth, I faced the truth behind my anger. It wasn't that I had been injured by lowly thugs like the rockets which boiled my blood so much, which made me desire vengeance this much.

It was that they had _gotten away_ with it. That those who had dared gone against me were still out there, alive and well, minding their own daily business while I stood here covered in battle scars; it was _that_ fact that ate me from the inside.

 _We'll get them._

I mouthed the words as I thought them, I could almost hear them as my reflection leaned closer and whispered all which I knew to be true.

 _They were here, in this town. If they still are, we'll find them. If they've left, we'll track them._

I dried my hands and exited the bathroom of the king size suit I had rented in Lavender's only luxury hotel. My clothes and pokebelt were on the bed, the belt missing two of its pokeballs, Dante's and Pikachu's, since I had left them at Lavender's pokecenter. Pikachu wouldn't fetch a good price injured and I still had use of Dante. I put my clothes on and reached for the belt, my fingers accidentally touching the metal casing of one of the pokeballs clipped on.

"Ow!" I cussed loudly, the ball was scorching hot. _Overheating,_ I noticed. _Due to no release during our prison sentence._

Another problem the rockets had caused.

I frowned, would the balls hold? I had been meaning to mend them ever since Cerulean, but back then I had been eager to catch up to Jessie, and the routes I had taken had shown no trainer's market. Maybe now in Lavender I would finally find the time to…

 _Time spent on useless repairs_ _is time wasted on finding our enemies._

Yes, of course, he was right again. I had no time to waste with such bothers when Jessie was loose somewhere in this city, the pokeballs would hold until the job was done.

I took one last glance at the cracked mirror before I exited my room to hit the streets of Lavender and smiled at the sight of my fractured reflection.

 _Magnificent._

))(())((

The fog in Lavender was thick and the dark clouds gathering above me were the sign a storm was approaching. It was nighttime, the streets were empty, and both Callidora and Arsenal were out of their pokeballs, following me while keeping a wary distance from each other. I had let Arsenal out because I had thought him witnessing me prowling the streets of Lavender for information on Jessie would do me good in proving I had every intention of keeping my side of our deal, and Callidora was out because I believed her the only one with a chance to stop the wartortle should he suddenly decide to turn on me.

Plus, the intimidation factor added by these two pokemon was a welcome added bonus.

I had started my search in the back streets of Lavender, questioning the beggars and junkies if they had caught any sight of a red haired female outsider with a muscular built, and had worked my way up to the bars and establishments that offered more questionable ventures, but frustratingly, once I had eliminated the false leads and bogus claims, I was left with nothing worthwhile at all. With how small of a population Lavender Town supported, I had honestly never expected it to be this hard to find someone who at least remembered seeing a woman that stood out so much like Jessie did. Initially, I had thought of refraining from bribing the gate guards for a quick peak at the entrance logs, but it seemed circumstances were pushing me towards it.

A shape in the distance caught my attention. Covered by the fog, I couldn't quite make it, but it seemed unnaturally large with a grotesque shape, definitely not human. My body tensed, I knew Lavender Town was the only city in Kanto's history that had never suffered from a wild pokemon invasion so the chances of it happening now were slim, but it was better to be prepared than sorry. A soft whistle, and Callidora was at my flank. I felt annoyed when I saw Arsenal not reacting and realized I would need to go over my personal command signals with him, but hopefully there would be time for that later.

Slowly, careful in each step, we approached the hulking monstrosity in front of us, and when we were finally confronted by its true nature, I couldn't help but laugh: The shape was nothing but a statue fixed in the center of the town square, a mass of stone where numerous smaller figures had been carved out. As far as I could tell, the figures represented manmade weapons of a bygone age; swords, shields, and lances, bows and arrows. Underneath the statue, a lighted small sign read: THE BATTLE OF LAVENDER FIELDS.

I frowned and pondered why anyone would wish to create an artistic homage to the greatest recorded number of human loss in Kanto's history.

Everybody in the country knew this battle's importance, it was taught in history lessons even in elementary schools. It had occurred before Leonal Oak and his unification, before the concept of trainers had been established, during a time when the seven cities of Kanto had each been independent kingdoms. The battle was fought between Saffron and Fuchsia and was over land; both kingdoms were suffering from an expansion problem, and the only unoccupied landmass was everywhere east of Vermilion and south of Rock Tunnel, which also covered the grounds of today's Lavender Town, a lovely field back then where wild lavender grew.

Comically named though, the Battle of Lavender Field hadn't actually occurred right at the exact spot where today's Lavender Town stood, it had been more to the west and closer to today's route K08. A battalion of the Fuchsian Khan's raiders had been pillaging villages under Saffron's protection for far too long, and the Royal Knights of the Saffronian God-King had been dispatched to deal with the threat but to also set their kingdom's borders further east by cleansing any Fuchsian stronghold in sight. Naturally, the Khan had not sat idly and let this happen, a squad of his deadly Shadow Warriors had already been sent and waited as reinforcements. Eventually, the two armies had clashed in glorious battle, where sword met sword and lances broke through shields.

Or so it could have been, had the battle not unknowingly occurred on the breeding grounds of wild ghost, dark, and psychic pokemon.

The result: Slaughter.

What did a human army's chain of command mean against voices whispering into soldiers' heads and ordering them to slay their own comrades? What mattered the quality of a blade's steel against opponents intangible? And what good were marksmanship skills if the targets remained covered in darkness, leaving archers blind?

Was it a coincidence that both kingdoms began implementing an earlier version of the trainer system once the Battle of Lavender Fields had concluded with both armies defeated against the common enemy, the wild, while suffering a total recorded loss of thirty-seven-thousand-eight-hundred-and-fifty-three human lives?

Many historians thought not.

The founding of Lavender Town itself had been many years after the battle, after the unification, during Kanto's second champion Co-Al's reign. The area had been thought lost to humanity because of the aggressive way the pokemon defended their breeding grounds, and colonization had been taking place more in the newly discovered Cinnabar Island, but a biologist specializing in the three types of pokemon had thrown an outlandish theory which had sparked Co-Al's interest. His theory was simple and was built on three facts.

One: These three types of pokemon lived to much older ages compared to humans and bred very rarely, making their offspring far too valuable to lose; hence the reason behind the fierce hold on their breeding grounds.

Two: Ghost, psychic, and dark types were natural competitors, rival species that clashed on sight. The connection psychics had to our space-time based reality was at direct odds with the anti-matter qualities of ghosts which allowed them to bend the laws of physics; and for some still unknown reason, dark types were completely undetectable on the astral plane both psychics and ghosts utilized, making them the perfect predators to these two powerful types of pokemon.

And finally, three: Such rare, competitive species with few offspring could not maintain their existence if they constantly clashed and also insisted on breeding in the same lands. It just wasn't biologically possible, at least one of the three had to be either driven out or extinct by now; which clearly wasn't the case.

So, the conclusion: Behind that protective invisible border where the hordes of monsters shred any outsiders to pieces, there had to be a neutral zone, a place the species had made an instinctual agreement not to hunt or fight. And if this held true, and if a human settlement could be built on that exact spot, then Kanto would suddenly gain the securest city in the whole nation, perhaps the whole world; a city whose borders would be protected by both the fiercest of pokemon species _and_ walls, weaponry, and trainers, defenses that included the human nature.

Naturally, Champion Co-Al had been interested, and an army of trainers had escorted settlers and researchers to find this theorized peace-zone, and eventually, since the theory had proved true, today's Lavender Town had been built, still the placeholder for safest city in Kanto even today. A few routes and roads that led to the city were added and these were regularly patrolled by the highest class of rangers, but often this was also unnecessary; after a few clashes where both sides had lost too much, the wild pokemon had understood as long as the humans did not dwell too deep into the swamps, forests, and hills where their young lived, attacking innocent travelling humans would bring armies of League trainers with, which would be a battle they couldn't afford. So they had restricted themselves to driving off unwanted other species' of pokemon, the reason why Lavender Town had never suffered from a wild attack.

The one question no one during Co-Al's time had asked and was today still unanswered was this: Why did the majority of psychics, ghosts, and darks always came here, to this specific area to live and breed in the first place? As far as ecologists could tell, this area offered nothing more special than Mt. Silver or the Safari Zone, areas mostly wild and without human contamination, areas one would think a pokemon about to give birth to would prefer. But no, always did ghosts old enough to breed return here, always did darks lay their eggs here, and always did psychics nurse their young into adulthood here; and nobody knew why.

 _And it matters absolutely not. Our focus should remain at the task at hand, finding a clue about the rock-_

"Hey, mister, you the one looking for the missus who took Jifu?"

I turned abruptly at the sound of the noise, how had this person sneak up on me, why had Callidora not warned me-

 _Children._

Three girls and four boys, all varying between the ages three and ten, had surrounded Callidora and were – I had to squint my eyes just to confirm I wasn't imagining it – _petting_ her. The kids only came up to one leg of hers, but here was my ivysaur, happily bending her front knees to reach down and allow two of the girls to scratch behind her ears while a pleasant gurgle escaped her throat. She at least gave a sheepish, guilty look my way before she dropped down entirely and sat to give the playful children easier access, a younger boy even tried climbing the spot between her neck and bud.

But what was more surprising was when one of the older boys, obviously the leader of the gang, gave some sort of nod with his head towards Arsenal - the same monster that just three days ago had trashed my three-badger combat team on his lonesome and had come twice in one day very close to killing me - and received a slight nod _back_ from the wartortle. His confidence obviously boosted, the boy smiled, I noticed one front tooth missing as he turned to me.

"Cool mons, mister, a saur and a tortle, we know'em from Jifu's drawings." I recognized the voice as the one which had first called to me and, shaking myself off from the initial oddity of the sight before me, decided to continue the conversation. These children quite obviously survived on the streets and were likely to hear news most adults wouldn't even know.

"Who's Jifu?"

"A crazy old coot, mister, at least that's how the grownups describe him," answered the boy and was immediately met with the protesting cries of the younger kids.

"Shut up! You know it's true!" he snapped, but by the way he bit his lips as he said it, I could understand he was trying to put up a tough act. Whoever this Jifu was, he obviously meant dearly to these kids.

"And you've seen Jessie take this… Jifu away?" I tried refocusing on the topic.

The boy sniffed. "Dunno about any Jessie, mister, but I've seen this freaky tall missus with red hair drag him from his place by Lurkers with my very own eyes, mister. And Weeping Sallie here," He pointed to one of his comrades, "swears on her immortal soul she saw'em both pass the Haunter's Kiss and move towards the Blindspot."

"Tis true, I swear it on the Alpha!" The shrill voice of Sallie cut through. "And I would've followed'em even further, except… except Jifu saw me, and… and…" She couldn't finish her sentence as she bawled into tears and cries, which the other younger children joined quite quickly.

The first boy scratched the back of his head before continuing the story. "Sallie says Jifu shook his head, mouthed her not to follow… which if she weren't such a scaredy skitty, she wouldn't do!" His harsh tone made Sallie cry even louder, and no one could get another word in until she was calmed.

Possibly feeling embarrassed by his unnecessary outburst, the gang's leader now spoke in a louder and quicker voice, desperate to finish the tale and leave the issue behind. "You see, mister, this all been two days ago, and we haven't heard from Jifu since. We…" he carefully chose his words as he eyed the other children, "…worry. Jifu tells the most awesome stories, he knows everything about monsters and he teaches us! He always gives us candy and can stitch our clothes, and he even showed us how to make hats and ships out of paper!"

His eyes teared up a little. "And… and… he's a _friend_ , mister!"

The kids all nodded at this statement, a few of them also tearing up, but nothing like the crying from before.

"So see, mister, we been thinking of going out the Blindspot and searching ourselves, but we ain't strong, mister, and the mons out there ain't peaceful, we'd die."

I felt my respect for this about ten-year-old kid grow immensely when I heard the calm in his voice at the mention of the word _die_ , I knew many adults who wouldn't be able to show such maturity.

"And when Bucky heard from Fat Lowell he saw a trainer with two strong mons ask around the grown-ups' places for a red-haired missus, we thought," He cleared his throat, "we thought, maybe she's the same one that took Jifu, maybe she ain't, but we at least owe it to Jifu to ask."

"That's the story, mister," He had a moment's hesitation before asking. "Will you… will you help us find Jifu?"

Seven pairs of hopeful eyes looked up to me.

 _A trap. A plot to assassinate us._

 _Hardly,_ I countered. _The rockets don't know Danielle snitched, they have no reason to expect me here. It's more likely something to do with this Jifu fellow, I'm betting he's the reason Jessie was sent here the first place._

 _We are the bringer of their end, their enemy, The Champion. Why would they bother themselves with someone less?_

 _I don't know, but this is the only lead we have._

"Your name?" I asked the boy. He seemed surprised at me asking.

"Spike, mister," he muttered, playing with the hem of his muddy shirt. "Least, that what folks call me."

"Then listen, Spike," I said. "I do not _care_ about your missing friend."

I would expect the kids to show more emotion, they were the ones who had found and asked me for help after all. But no, not even Weeping Sallie had uttered a single cry, they had just lowered the eyes on their stone-cold faces and kept silent.

 _They're used to disappointment from adults. Except from Jifu. The way they react to his name is astounding._

"I see, mister," Spike turned his back, and the children dropped from Callidora's back, gathering around him. "I wish a pleasant night in any case, mister."

"Did I say you could leave?" I snapped, and the gang of children froze in their place at my voice. "I have no interest in this Jifu you speak of, but the red-haired stranger, Jessie, she is a target. And if your story is true, then your Jifu and my Jessie, they're together, out in the wild, in the… Blindspot, through the Haunter's Kiss." I had no idea what these two were, I guessed them to be local idioms for certain landmarks around Lavender.

"Take me there," I ordered. "As far as you can go. Then point me to the right direction. And I'll find and take care of Jessie. If your Jifu remains alive, I see no reason why he should not return to you once the threat on him has been cleared."

"Pray to Arceus!" It was Sallie and not Spike who spoke this time with a beaming smile that seemed to light her whole face. "Thank you, mister, I'll show you to the Blindspot, thank you, mister!"

"Get to it then." I gestured her forwards with my chin as Arsenal and Callidora flanked me. "And next time you ask something of me, leave that withered beast alone."

She looked up confused at my words.

"Arceus won't do you any good," I said. "You want to pray? Pray to _me._ "

 _Pray to The Champion._

))(())((

The Haunter's Kiss turned out to be the cracked entrance to an old pipeline that went under the city walls and, according to Sallie, ended "where the fog was as thick as cream and the clouds never stopped rumbling above".

The Blindspot.

 _Rightfully named._

The glowsticks and torches in my bag did nothing to pierce the mist, and the noise of thunder echoed so loud I could swear the thunderstorm was happening in my head rather than up in the sky. With my two most important senses blocked, all I had to guide me was Callidora's elemental connection to the forest - I presumed the many obstacles I kept stumbling and hitting on to be trees – and Arsenal's strong eyesight, evolved to see even in the deepest parts of rivers and lakes where no surface light reached. The wartortle had taken point position and carefully maneuvered around the outlines of shapes too blurry to be identified, and Callidora had extended vines that tied us all loosely together by our ankles, occasionally tugging on our bindings and giving us direction. I didn't question on what basis she decided our route, I trusted her instincts enough to know she kept us on the safest path.

 _Path… to what?_

 _Ka-boom._

With that last crash of thunder, a new noise was added to the deafening symphony surrounding us: The patter of heavy raindrops falling. Neither of my two pokemon minded this new addition, water from the heavens was in fact a welcome gift for my grass and water type, but I was left soaking wet within the minute. And my discomfort wasn't even the worst part: The rain would now wash away any tracks belonging to Jessie and her hostage, Jifu.

 _Like I could even see any tracks_ , I thought grimly. I had been confident in my skills and knew it would have been easy to find prints left by two humans in the undisturbed wild, but I had underestimated the true extent to which the nickname Blindspot was accurate. It was impossible to see, hear, and now with the cold the rain brought, even feel anything in this area.

 _I need to go back,_ I thought. _The weather is against me, and my team isn't entirely suited for this. Both Pikachu and Dante could provide much needed light, and their senses of smell are stronger than Callidora's and Arsenal's. They could catch Jifu's scent; I'm sure the kids have some rags that belonged to him._

 _The two are in a pokecenter, it will take too much time to wait on them. And retreat does not suit us._

 _This is not retreat,_ I fought back. _This is strategizing. We need to-_

A buzz in my pocket interrupted the argument. Although I couldn't hear the pinging sound, I understood my pokedex was vibrating.

"What the?" I muttered as I dug into my pockets. "How the hell is there signal here?"

I held my pokedex close to my face. The screen was black, and the buzzing had stopped, nothing out of ordinary.

 _A glitch?_ I asked myself. _Or did I imagine it?_

And just then, my dex buzzed again, but this time, I also caught the small blue light at its corner blink once.

 _No way. No fucking way._

I tugged on the vine around my ankle with one hand, signaling the two pokemon to stop, while still keeping my dex close. It was once again lifeless, but if I was right, then it would soon agai-

 _There._

Unbelievably, the buzzing returned, and the light blinked again. My suspicions confirmed, but still feeling confused, I unlocked the screen, but no, no background program was running.

 _Then how the hell is the pokemon tracking function on?_ I thought. _Did Bill mess something up?_

I felt dissatisfied by this answer, it had been a long time since my first meeting with Bill and my dex had run smoothly ever since. _So why is it acting out now?_ I thought as my dex again buzzed in my hand. _And more importantly, what is it tracking?_

 _It matters not. Take this leap of faith. Follow the breadcrumbs. When has fate ever worked against us?_

My lower lip curled as I considered the question. It was true I had no other plan here, but it was also true I was in the wild, and not the cute wild like Viridian Forest, but the uncharted lands around Lavender, where feral ghost, psychic, and dark types lived. They had learned to steer clear from the manmade routes, but anything deep in their breeding grounds was fair game, and I really didn't want to go up against hordes of monsters just because my pokedex was acting weirdly. If there was any guarantee this would lead me to my target I wouldn't hesitate of course, but the chance of this ending up a wild farfetch'd chase was too great.

 _Hence it is called a leap of faith. Have faith and you shall be rewarded._

 _Have faith in… what exactly?_

 _Yourself. Ourself. The Champion._

I made my mind.

Pulling on the vine, I brought my pokemon within earshot. "I'll take point!" I yelled trying to overcome the sound of the storm. "Make sure I don't hit anything!"

I chose to believe my words made it through and began walking in a random direction, checking the dex in my hand.

The frequency of the light and buzz increased slightly, signaling me closer to my unknown target.

 _Gotcha._

 _Now to not let go of the scent._

It was a… tedious process. I kept walking, only changing course when the time period between the pokedex's next light and prior increased. Twice I hit a cliffside too steep to climb, and once I almost fell through a hole forcing me to circle around and find a safer course. After an hour, I was on the verge of giving up; my only drive was that the frequency and intensity of the buzzing had increased so much I felt enough curiosity to at least see this imaginary thing my dex was tracking to its end, no matter how large a disappointment it would much likely be. The only upside of this whole venture was the total lack of wild pokemon, they were unnaturally scarce, no, missing-

Before I could finish the thought, I suddenly stepped outside the fog.

A moonlit shore and clear skies awaited me. I could feel the sand under me, and the calm waves of the sea contrasted with the storm I had left behind. A second later, Callidora and Arsenal also emerged from the foggy line separating this hidden paradise from the Blindspot with a look of surprise on their bestial faces. They sniffed and licked the air hungrily, and I could see the act leaving them even more confused.

"Yeah," I muttered. "You and me both."

Just to test it, I turned to reach my hand palm side up back into the fog. Once again, I felt the rain. I pulled it back and tasted the droplets; definitely raindrops. I pushed my hand back and watched it disappear, its sight blocked by the thick mist, and pulled out, then in and out, in out, again and again. The result was always the same, the fog never dispersed and never went beyond its unnaturally defined border, and it always completely obscured anything within.

 _Fascinating._

Mesmerized by this natural wonder, I involuntarily shirked when Callidora poked me on the side. I saw her pointing with one vine towards a large, singular shape I had missed earlier, an erect form protruding skywards from the middle of the sea.

Already aware of the answer, I held my pokedex up and pointed the screen towards the mysterious structure, and naturally, my dex vibrated and flashed its light like crazy. Whatever its tracking function had set itself on; it was definitely out there.

All I had to do was swim.

 _A leap of faith, was it?_ I groaned and recalled Callidora as I made my way to the shore. I was just about to also recall Arsenal when the turtle pokemon held out one clawed fist, warning me not to.

"It's the sea; that's saltwater," I tried explaining as I took out my shirt and put my pokedex back into my pocket. _Time to test if it's really waterproof._ "You're a freshwater monster, you can't swim ther-"

My jaw dropped when Arsenal rushed into the water, dove deep, emerged further out, then swam back. He smugly got out of the water and shook himself, wetting me even more with the droplets.

 _Never get into an argument with a pokemon over water._

But how could this be freshwater? I tried calculating my location as I took my first step into the sea, no, _lake_ , for Arsenal was right, this was unmistakably freshwater. Judging from Lavender's position on the Kanton map, I had assumed I had now reached the eastern seaboard, and as far as I knew, there existed no lakes this massive in this part of the nation…

 _No, that's not entirely true,_ I corrected myself. _The areas around Lavender have never been thoroughly explored because of the wild, and the constant storms make scouting impossible from above. This place may have always been here, but nobody might have been able to pass the Blindspot and find it. Frankly, if not for our dex, we wouldn't find it either._

 _So then, this makes us explorers, eh? Rangers of the unknown?_ For some reason the thought amused me. Waist deep into the water, I called out to Arsenal who had dove a second time and ventured out without me. I stepped forwards while waiting for him, soon the water would be too deep to walk.

 _If this is all uncharted,_ I smiled to myself, _then I guess naming rights lie with me?_ I waved a hand in front of me parallel to the water surface. _I dub thee Lake Red._

Snap.

"Mew damn it!" My foot had stepped on and broke something. Worried about it being some poisonous water creature, I put my head underwater and tried finding it, but the water was too murky and dark to identify anything, so instead, I decided to reach down and search blindly with one hand. I pulled up once I came in contact with something prickly and hard, and rubbing my eyes to clear my sight, I checked what the object was.

And then immediately threw it away.

It was a skull.

 _A human skull._

A minute passed until I could collect myself, not daring to move even the slightest muscle. _Something out here has once killed man_ , I reasoned, my eyes darting over the surface.

And I had alerted that _something_ by disturbing the water.

 _Never swim in uncharted waters._

I almost screamed when Arsenal rose behind me, announcing himself with a great splash.

 _No,_ was my first thought, _he's killed us!_ But after a moment passed, and the water surface calmed itself, and still no freaky horror show with tentacles grabbed and dragged us deep down to drown, I admitted that perhaps, I had overreacted.

"Right," I muttered. "There's nothing here, there's nothing here. That skull just belonged to one ancient idiot who didn't know how to swim and drowned naturally." I glanced at Arsenal and once again noticed his strong physique. "And even if there were, we would take care of it."

Arsenal snorted bubbles.

More confident now, I pointed towards the shape ahead. "That's our destination, where we'll hopefully find… something. Care for a lift?"

The answer was apparently no.

 _Right._ I watched him swim ahead without me. _He's not mine yet._

I took a deep breath as I launched myself forwards and began freestyle swimming.

 _This better not be some trick Bill installed in my dex,_ I thought while reaching out as far as I could with my strokes. _Or not turn out to be something unrelated to the rockets. Or end with me becoming seaking food._

 _Fate never disappoints us. It will not begin now._

 _First time for everything,_ I added at the end and felt _him_ surprised at my response. _First time for everything…_

))(())((

It was a tower.

Not like a modern lighthouse, it was something medieval but incomplete; part of an ancient castle, where the rest of the stone-built structure had submerged and crumbled away in time. I couldn't even begin to guess its age, but I was sure the tower predated Leonal Oak, making it older than a thousand years. And as for its actual height, it was impossible to know since only a portion of the tower stuck out, but even that part was probably taller than Tin Tower; I counted seven floors from the outside, the rest was rooted deep into the lake's bottom. I swam in circles around this ancient structure looking for an opening to slip in, but it was Arsenal who found a crack large enough for both of us, and after we entered and climbed out of the water to dry stone, I was presented with even more disturbing facts about this structure.

Like how all the torches were lit.

And how my feet were sticky from ectoplasm.

 _Someone's been here._

I stuck a finger into the thick goo splattered across the walls and floors, and watched the slimy substance stretch and stretch until it finally broke when I shook my hand roughly. _Ghost blood,_ I realized. I checked the spindling corridor stood in again. _Lots of it._

 _There's been a battle. Recently. And the victors are still likely here._

I put a hand to Arsenal's chest to stop him from moving, and to his credit, he listened. Just to be sure we were on the right path, I pulled out my pokedex again.

 _Up,_ I noticed. _We need to go up._

I didn't like it.

 _Show faith._

… _Fine._

 _But I don't have to be stupid doing so,_ I thought as I released Callidora. One glance at our surroundings, and she immediately understood what was needed. An old trick during her times with Melanie, various odors mixed in her bud were released in the air, slightly masking our smell, and small vines and mushy seeds stuck to the bottoms of mine and Arsenal's feet.

I gave a quick test jump, and the seeds did their work. Softening the impact, only a soft _mush_ echoed in the silent halls. Satisfied, I grinned towards Arsenal to make sure he understood what Callidora had helped accomplish here: As long as we stood near her, our scent would be less detectable, and her seeds had made our steps almost soundless, giving us a clear advantage of ambush should the need for a fight arise.

The impressed look on his face made me grin even wider.

 _Yes, she's impressive,_ I happily thought as I walked forwards. The torchlights showed a circular stairway at the end of the hall. _Yes, she's worthy._

 _But the idea was mine._ I climbed the first step, Arsenal and Callidora still behind me. _I make her worthy; she is only so because of me._ I slyly glanced back at the turtle pokemon. _And soon you will be like her-_

"Still no signal."

I almost stumbled on my last step when I heard that voice. It sounded hoarser than I remembered, but there was no way I could ever forget it.

 _James._

The scar on my face burned, and I smiled. The hour of vengeance was one corner away; once I turned, I would order Arsenal to rip James' body in half, an order I was sure he would gladly obey.

"Try again."

Arsenal's meaty fists clenched when he heard this voice, this was one both he and I were familiar with: Jessie. He gave a brief nod my way with a look of appreciation, I guessed to him this constituted as fulfilling the first half of our bargain, finding the rockets.

Which only left the other half.

Ignoring the still silently buzzing pokedex in my pocket, I began thinking strategy. Our enemies didn't know we were on them, and judging from how tired their voices sounded, they had spent the last few days without rest. I recalled upon the large stains of leftover ectoplasm on the lower floors; had Jessie and James spent their last few days wiping out all the wild pokemon in this tower? If so, then it was likely that most members, if not all, of their team were battle-weary and injured.

Which meant currently my enemies stood at their weakest.

"Nope. No signal." I could hear James mutter.

I made my decision and signaled Callidora forwards, bud aimed up front. She stopped just before turning that last corner, I wanted her positioned there as a defensive measure in case the rocket duo rushed to the stairs. Meanwhile, Arsenal and I would both wait for an opening to charge; we held the initiative and could hear our opponents' movements, there needed be no haste in giving up this advantage. Should we hear the rockets move away, we could silently strike from behind, and should they move towards the staircase where we were, then they presented the perfectly lined up target in these narrow halls for Arsenal's aqua-jetting. No matter much battling experience the duo had or how thick their protective suits I remembered from Mt. Moon were, Arsenal's explosive shell force would knock both of them out.

"At least no hordes in sight," Jessie said. I assumed the hall ended with an opening where they could see out towards the lake. "So much trouble for one old man."

I next heard the thud of a kick and a whimper which slowly turned into soft chuckling.

" _They_ won't let me go, you know," a third voice gurgled. _The kids' friend, Jifu,_ I thought. "I'm patient zero. I'm the bringer of end times, the apocalypse, and _they_ know it."

He giggled. "You can't meddle with millions of years' worth planning, you know, not even your beloved boss can. But me, _my genius_ has bought me my insurance, and _they_ dare not force me: How do you think I've been hiding in _Lavender_ of all places for the last seventeen years, don't you think with what I've done, _they_ wouldn't kill me by now?"

"Jessie," James interrupted with a voice smoother than silk. "Do please quiet the dear Dr. Fuji."

 _Fuji? Wasn't it Jifu?_

I winced when I heard what could only be a fist smashing against one's face.

"Finally, silence. Should've done this more in the last two days," James peacefully murmured.

"The orders were to bring him in alive, and I don't think he can survive that many hits at his age," Jessie said in a resigned tone. After a minute of silence, she continued. "But he's right, they won't let him go, and we can't fight them forever. We can't even escape: No porting, shadowing, flying, and down to one mon, we'll be lucky if we survive the night; they'll send another horde soon."

 _Down to one mon – they're defenseless._

 _They are mine._

"If only that _thing_ wasn't in the lak-"

I gave the signal.

"JAMES-UGH!" Jessie was too late to warn her partner as Arsenal exploded from his starting point. The thick protective shell hit her mid stomach, and she crumbled from the pain, but Arsenal wasn't through just yet. I felt an immense amount of pleasure watching his clawed hands close around Jessie's neck; like he had always intended, he would strangle Trainer Lotus' true killer slowly, he would make her _suffer_.

And meanwhile James himself was too busy trying to free himself from the sudden vines that ensnared him, but since Callidora had wrapped around the wrists and joints multiple times, his struggles were worthless. Smiling, I finally stepped out of the shadows, basking in the sight of my victory, of my long timed rightfully earned _revenge_.

 _A Champion's blood banquet._

"You!?" James eyes widened briefly in surprise, but like the warrior I knew him to be, I saw him quickly adapting to the situation. "Kid, you're making a huge mist-"

I snapped my fingers, and another vine slithered out of Callidora, stuffing his open mouth full, then I took a more detailed glance at the scene in front of me. This hall ended with an open balcony where a passed out elderly man lay, and Arsenal had the dressed in black body armor Jessie up against the wall near. I counted the pokeballs as I took her belt, the wartortle taking no heed of my actions and concentrating only on Jessie's face in front of him. There were ten, but the warmth proved each had a monster within.

 _So when Jessie meant "down to one mon", she meant something along the lines of one in the open or one uninjured._ I twisted the belt in my hand, keeping it away from the trainer. _I can't allow them to access more balls – in this situation, even injured mons would fight crazy to save their masters._

"I know you have one mon in the open – tell it to come out. I feel like anything funny going on," I addressed James, nicking my head towards the now purple from asphyxiation Jessie, "and you'll be joining your partner on _that_ path of pain. Understood?"

James nodded, and I signaled Callidora to retract the vine in his mouth. He didn't give any oral order though: I saw him concentrate on something for just an instant and the look disappear. _A mental command,_ I reasoned and reached to remove his belt as well. _A psychic type._ And my guess proved correct when a small blue pokemon flew in out of the opening, a soft ringing sound echoing as it flew by.

Panic settled in James' voice when he saw Callidora's bud opening. "Kid, listen to me. That chimecho is the only thing masking our presence, you put it down and we all-"

Completely ignoring him, a burst of powder from my ivysaur's back put the windchime pokemon to sleep as I examined James' belt. He carried more equipment than Jessie but less pokeballs; a small blade and empty dartgun were clipped to the belt where on the other side hung six balls, only one of them cold enough to be empty. _The free running mon is his,_ I thought while recalling the asleep pokemon and watching his face carefully. I didn't like how his eyes darted every few seconds towards the knocked-out man I presumed to be Jifu, it seemed the only fear he felt in this situation came from failing his mission.

 _Then make him fear us._

A poisonous, thorny vine hit James across the face. He grunted at the slash as I mockingly traced my own facial scar pattern.

"Kid, you NEED to listen," he tried again. "Soon, that man will wake up, and once they detect him – urgh!"

The vine holding his wrist tightened, breaking the delicate bone structure. I felt pleasure incomparable to anything I had ever experienced as I watched his face grimace in pain.

"Do you remember Mt. Moon, James?" I asked gleefully. "Do you remember what you said to me? _I don't need to – torture is such a crass word._ " I mockingly imitated his voice. "Well, I don't _need_ to _torture_ you now, James."

He screamed silently when Callidora's vines broke the other wrist. I grinned. "But I very much enjoy doing so, James. This, this is _deliverance._ You deserved this when you marked _me._ "

 _When you marked The Champion._

"The story over there," I pointed at Jessie and Arsenal, "is different though. He has first claim to the kill because of what Jessie did to Officer Danielle." How I delighted in watching his eyes bulge in recognition of the name, in a way, this deliverance came not only from Arsenal and me, but also from her beyond-the-grave self too.

Together, we watched Jessie's eyes slowly close. "How long you reckon she can go without air?" I asked cruelly. "Arsenal's been wanting to do this for quite some time, I don't think he'll like it if she dies before he feels she's suffered enough. But don't worry," I stroked James' cheek. "He won't get to you. Not before you name every single rocket in existence, not before you tell me who your boss is, where you manufacture X, and why you targeted the Silphs."

"And then," I demanded, "you will tell me everything about my _father_."

" _That's_ what this is all about?" James snorted and looked up to me defiantly. "You're chasing ghosts, boy, but if you don't free us, soon the _real_ ones will come knocking, and that will be no joke."

He tilted his head towards the balcony. "Don't believe me? Look down, Pokemon Trainer Red. Look down and see the abyss, see the true depths of this thing you have no understanding of, and then _fucking_ release US!" He shook violently at that last part, startling me with his leftover strength, but Callidora gritted her teeth and held through.

 _Lies. Empty threats._

 _He still does not take this seriously. Make him._

I would, mew dammit, I would. I would tear off his pathetic armor and make Callidora paint my fucking portrait on him with his own blood, cut off his limbs, leave him crippled, disfigure his face, and pry the answers I sought from him out of his seviper tongued mouth before I finally killed him, I would, and, more importantly, _could_ do all that, but-

A searing touch burned through my side, and every eye present in the hall, man and beast both, fixed itself on the glowing bright pokeball hung to my left.

And all of them widened in terror.

The liquid energy had built up too much. The worn-out casing was suffering from overheating.

There were only seconds remaining before it blew up.

I threw it with all the force I could muster to the opening, outside.

I was too late.

 _BOOM._

The deafening noise of the explosion shook the foundations of the tower, a force of wind threw everyone off their feet. The blast pushed me all the way towards the staircase where I hit the wall and slumped down until my bottom touched the stone ground, and I briefly saw Arsenal tucking his limbs into the protective safety of his shell, but that of course meant Jessie was now released and also caught in the blast force; and James did not waste this golden opportunity.

 _No!_

The four-legged Callidora had better balance, so while I and Jessie were thrown like ragdolls across the hall and Arsenal's shell slid smoothly on the stone walls towards us, she had only suffered a moment's imbalance, but it was enough for James to tug with all his might against the distracted Callidora's vines.

 _I never cut off the burned ones!_

One by one, the vines snapped at their weak points where the rot Pikachu's zero-distance discharge had settled, and Callidora shrieked out in pain. Furthermore, even with two broken wrists, James was a strong enough man to find the strength to lunge at the weaponry I had carelessly left out in the open: The two pokebelts holding a total sixteen rocket trained pokemon.

But at the same time, something more horrifying was happening. The blown up pokeball had released its pent-up energy, and now a solid form was building where my aim had been, on the balcony, over the still knocked out Jifu whose clothes had ripped apart from the blast directly occurring over him. The red light materialized into a pink fat pokemon with a perpetually dumbed down look on his face, and Paul my slowbro landed on Jifu's back.

And as it turned out, after the explosion, this added weight was too much for the old, extended balcony to handle.

"NO!"

I didn't know who cried out louder, James or me, as we both watched the floor underneath them crumble, but it was me who stood up and ran towards them while it was he who grabbed the two belts and rushed towards the passed-out Jessie in the opposite direction, to the staircase. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Callidora face them, and my ears heard Arsenal's defying roar and the click of multiple pokeballs at once, but my focus was on one thing only: The helpless look on _my_ pokemon's face as he fell out into the dark, the terrified moan he gave as he plummeted.

"PAUL!" I reached out my hand, I could catch him, I could catch him, I could catch him-

 _Leave him._

A moment's hesitation.

 _The TRUE enemy escapes!_

Only a moment's.

 _Leave hi-_

"SHUT UP!"

I lunged forwards.

It felt as if my head was hammered to a pulp as The Champion's psyche burst wide open. His mask dropped, I could now feel the _ugliness_ held within, the disgusting, selfish ego of self which had drove me mad, and I tried avoiding this delusional creature's hold, but…

 _All of this can wait._

Both my hands reached out. I barely felt my knees bleed as I slid on the floor to close the remaining distance.

But the pain of Paul's spikey tail digging into my hands was the ultimate blessing.

I had caught him.

 _Attaboy Red._

"I got you," I muttered. I didn't care that his weight was dragging me down, slowly sliding the rest of my body to fall, or that Jifu the elder was falling, falling, and falling until his body hit the water surface flat from an impossible height, or that my dex's eternal vibrations had stopped in my pocket.

All that mattered were the violet eyes I gazed into looking at me from an upside-down angle.

"I. Got. You."

I didn't add the _and I won't let go_ part.

But somehow, Paul understood.

And because he understood, the parasitic shell clamped tight on his tail let go, releasing the main body.

"NO!"

"NO, NO, NO, NO!" I clutched at the now lifeless shell in my arms and screamed. "NO, NO, no, no…"

"No."

 _No._

Until my voice was only whimpers.

I didn't know how long I stood there holding _it,_ I only knew it was long enough that the spiky exterior had penetrated my skin and my blood had dried. Long enough that the noise of battle behind me had ended and an Arsenal with a nasty bump on the head and a green blood-oozing Callidora were gently picking me up and pulling me back into the safety of the hall. Long enough that James had successfully escaped me with his companion despite the severely disadvantaged situation he was in and was now probably already in the lower levels of the tower, maybe even in the lake, for all the good _that_ would do him.

Long enough that I had stared into the dark pool of the abyss and had seen possessed skeletons holding cursed doublade rising, many gengar and dusklops emerging from the depths of the lakes' shadows, and hundreds of sableye crawling on the water surface; all of them heading here.

Long enough that I had noticed for one second a creature staring back at me from the abyss, a form reflected on the water surface as if was trapped and unable to pierce through into reality, but still powerful enough to manipulate its surroundings. Long enough that a second's worth glimpse of the beast would be forever embedded in my mind despite my inability to bring its cursed name to my lips; the draconic gold-black striped serpent and the spiked ghastly extensions spread symmetrically on each side of the slender form imitating fallen angel wings.

Long enough that I understood I was surrounded by the hordes of beasts obeying monstrosities of such level my feeble human mind could never comprehend.

Long enough to understand I would die here, this place would be my tomb, and that I _deserved_ it.

I lay down and shut my eyes, content and awaiting the release, when _he_ interrupted my peace.

 _Done with the pity party?_ The Rival in my head was as merciless and tactless as ever.

I straightened up in surprise.

 _Done? Good. Now let's get back to fucking work. We don't get to die here, Red._

Arsenal roared his challenge to the abyss, Callidora growled her threats to the dark.

 _We have a promise to uphold._

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **After an unplanned hiatus of one month, I'm back. I apologize to all my readers and hope that this delay in the updates will not throw anyone off the story. Last month, a family emergency forced me to buy a last-minute plane ticket back to my home country, and in my haste and worry I forgot to take my laptop, where all my future chapters are stored. Having just resolved everything, I only returned to my college dorm and laptop the day before. Again, apologies to all who were rightfully disappointed in this delay, and special thanks to those who asked my situation and showed understanding and support in the messages.**

 **About the chapter: 'Member how in chapter 14 Red mentioned his pokeballs needing repairs? Foreshadowing! 'Member how in chapter 6 Red noticed it was thanks to Callidora that Melanie and her mons were moving undetected and stealthily? Foreshadowing!**

 **Next update: In two weeks, sometime around the 15th and 16th.**


	21. Chapter 17: Blue, Old, Borrowed, New

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Blue, Old, Borrowed, New:

They descended.

They rose.

Unbound by the material, the immaterial swarmed from all angles, and at their approach, the torches' light grew dim, their shine close yet far as the stars themselves. Cold they brought with, an unyielding chill which echoed in the hall, bouncing back and forth until my hands still clenched tight at the empty conch turned blue and a terrible tremble took over my body. Like ink spilled on water, a mass of shadows covered stone; the horrid darkness making its way up from the staircase and through the confining walls. The shapeless blotch cornered us, taunted us, drove us closer as our each step of retreat got replaced by the advancing shades; and soon no sanctuary was left - aside from the small patch of stone we occupied tightly.

But we stood.

And so they laughed. More heinous than the mightyena pack claiming the leftover carrion and as sincere as a newborn baby, the horde laughed at our sight, at us cowering and huddling together, weaponless and afraid but still defiant, their brutish hearts found joy in prey unaware of their status, victims unaware they were so. And they laughed, laughed, and laughed at our foolishness.

They would not kill us, as other beasts did, no. First, they would torment us, expose us to our deepest fears, drown us in our worst memories; they would make us beg and cry, feeding off our distress, they would carry our psionic screams with them to their young, and the whole brood would relish in the taste, and then, once everyone had taken their fill of misery, only then would they move on to our flesh. Their sharp teeth would tear at our meat, their red eyes would glow in a frenzy, and at their touch our long dead body would still stiffen from the abyssal cold. Hallow mouths would open wide, and our essence would disappear into the void hidden behind, becoming a trick the spirit could later pull out of its hat; adding to the vast number of faces it could imitate, they would expand on their tools of horror for future use, for the future would surely again bring souls foolish enough to delve deep into the wilds of Lavender.

They were a horde, united in purpose, and they were ghosts: Vicious and cruelest among all monsters. They did not float across that unholy lake basked in moonlight solely to kill us, they did not climb up the tower to our level solely to deal with us invaders.

They also came because they enjoyed the kill.

Lidless eyes emerged first, then the cheshire grins. They smiled for they knew we could not harm them, they smiled because they saw the lifeless vines James had ripped from Callidora, saw her bleeding and injured, and they snickered at the wound on Arsenal's head, giggling at his muscular, powerful physique, for such corporeal prowess meant nothing to those intangible, and the elemental attacks which actually could hurt them were not by nature a wartortle's strength. And having assessed the threat and deemed it insignificant, they were now finally reverting to the shapes they were comfortable with, they could now break free from the combined fluid darkness they had masked themselves under for purposes defense and mobility and resume their individual forms best suited for offense and slaughter.

Shadows accumulated, and like bubbles in boiling water rising, a multitude of bodies were birthed: The short and round gengar were distributed among the taller, silent dusclops observing silently from their single eyes locked on the target, and at their feet, the creeping, crawling child size sableye flashed their teeth hungrily. Their numbers were between twenty and thirty – the maximum number the hall I stood in could allow – but the horde's momentary size mannered not, for I knew the wave of darkness extended from here to the lowest levels of the tower and from there to the bottom of the surrounding lake, bringing the total up to hundreds, maybe even thousands; an unneeded reinforcement of monsters which only expanded on the situation's hopelessness.

 _Just like you like it, right Red?_

And feeling the full, _astonished_ gaze of the horrors upon me, I straightened up from my shriveled position, and smiled.

"Arsenal."

The wartortle's roar and subsequent launch of the hefty shell was welcomed by the ghosts with open laughter. Even though Arsenal's shell burst right through the frontmost dusclops, taking the upper-tops of a few crouched sableye heads with, and hit the opposing wall with a thundering impact, the ghosts' laughter did not cease and turned to open mocking – did us fools not know they were a species immune to physical contact? The cackles continued while they patiently waited for their comrades' shadows to reform, for this illusion of hurt their brethren was casting to end so they could move on with the killing.

Their chuckles froze when gushing ectoplasm sprayed from the holes where their brothers' heads used to reside and painted the corridor in blood.

And the screams came a second later when Arsenal through precise aqua-jetting technique regained his lost momentum and flew from the sides, this time taking more than a half of the sableye and one gengar with him. The whirling shell was both a bludgeoning hammer and sharpened blade to the physically frail ghosts, and they, having no experience with a foe which could actually touch them, hesitated and failed to regroup as Arsenal ricocheted all over the hall; ghost blood spraying marked the blindingly fast aerial path the heavy shell took and fractures on the wall appeared as he crashed against the stones, only to use them as a foothold and again launch his aqua-jet tackle.

But this could not last long, and the ghosts knew it. Though they could not fathom the reason, they understood somehow this foe was able to touch them, so they listened to their instincts. They retreated and left a wide room open for Arsenal to bounce back and forth and tire himself, and instead slimmed their way in through the sides and sought reaching Callidora and me – the weaker targets.

To say I did not feel murderous glee when I suddenly swung Paul's shell at the jumping sableye and watched the gem-like eyes widen in terror when first the spikes at the exterior tore and drew blood, then the impact of the blow twisted the side of its overgrown head at an unnatural angle, and finally splattered the mass into a dissolving shadow outlined by the traces of ectoplasm left on the walls would grow my nose a size equal to a nosepass'.

Of course, I was one human wielding one makeshift weapon; Callidora was more, much more. She tackled the larger sableye and dusclops, biting down, ripping unprotected flesh and limbs, headbutting against enemies flanking us, she held the rear position perfectly even without her vines; never giving the ghosts which escaped Arsenal's frontal assault a chance to recover or get close, she kept the many foes surrounding us at distance.

 _But this won't last, Red._

"I know," I muttered then yelled to make myself heard over the chorus of wails and whimpers, "ARSENAL! STAIRS!"

A grunt proved I had been heard. The shell's trajectory changed from random to purposed, and the wrecking ball of death took a more straightforward, linear path, leading to the stairs. The newly arriving ghosts weren't prepared for the rampage that was Arsenal and were dealt with swiftly as the shell ripped right through them; and those which were only injured met Paul's tail-end when I swung the shell mercilessly chasing after Arsenal, while Callidora at our back made sure to keep any pursuers at bay.

The horde however was endless, and ours was an uphill battle. We were swimming against a tide of specters, we didn't waste time to kill all – we couldn't – but only to clear a path and keep ourselves safe. We reached the circular staircase and took the first few steps down against the unsuspecting new arrivals of ghosts easily, surprising them by actually contacting them, but those we had missed were now regrouping behind us, bellowing in frustration and hurt, angrier than ever. Callidora couldn't keep them all away from our rear forever, and I only prayed we could buy us enough time until we reached the submerged levels and lake.

 _Five floors left, Reddy boy, doing very good._

Arsenal was having an easier time conserving his momentum in the narrow staircase, his shell-tackles were more impactful and pushed multitudes of enemies aside, but I knew the water in his tank would not last – what would happen once it emptied and couldn't use that pressurized burst?

 _Then he'll stand his ground and fight on his two feet until we reach those waters. Don't go weak on me, Red, four floors left!_

Splat.

I smashed Paul's shell against another sableye.

And another.

And another, another, another.

Splat. Splat. Splat.

My breath grew tired and panting; chasing after Arsenal while swinging at the smaller ghosts I could handle was showing. Callidora's breathing behind me also grew short: Ivysaur were not made for sprinting, and quadrupeds generally experienced more difficulty than bipeds on stairs.

 _Three. You got this, Red, you got this!_

 _If,_ I allowed myself to think in the brief pauses I had between running and swinging. _If the ghosts behind still remain in shock, if they don't catch up on our tactic, we might make it, we just might make it-_

With a deafening crash, Arsenal's shell in front of me descended and hit the stairs. The spinning slowed down until it came to a stop; and a bulk of the monsters seized the opportunity as they jumped up on the shell.

"NO-"

My cry was cut short by Arsenal's roar. The snapping jaw reemerged from the shell first, biting the legs off a dusclops, then meaty claws and strong legs followed, pushing the wartortle back on his two feat. His tank empty of water, the wartortle couldn't aqua-jet and burst his shell forward anymore, but those huge fists and short but sharp claws would still do the deed.

Only slower.

 _He's a fighter, he'll make do,_ The Rival tried reassuring me. _Last two-_

My chase came to an abrupt stop when I crashed against Arsenal, and behind me Callidora pushed against me, growling, urging us to keep running, but it was useless: Arsenal would not budge.

Laughter began to build up around us again; maniacal cackles and sinister giggles echoed from the pursuers catching up at our backs to the enemies still waiting at front, and the final end would approach inevitably unless Arsenal _moved_.

"Move!" Unable to hide the sense of urgency in my voice, I pushed against his shell with my shoulder; his width made it impossible for us to squeeze through in this narrow staircase. "Don't fail us now, you overgrown lug, _move_!"

But he did not, and now in near full contact with him, my bare skin against the shell, I noticed he was trembling, paralyzed in fear.

 _What the-_

Fire.

Flames as bright as the sun greeted me when I peeked under his shoulders, their sudden brightness blinding my to the dark accustomed eyes. The flames licked against the walls, the stone steps melted like ice at their touch, and rock crumbled to ashen dust – unstoppable was the inferno, impossible.

And at its center stood the culprit: A living fireball shaped to anthropoid proportions; a mixture of red, orange, and yellow defined the main body, the sun's colors at dawn and dusk, together as one. Errant flames rose from the shoulders and head – blazing eyes fixed on an ash-black face.

But the most prominent feature were the arms. Tubular, almost cannonlike, they pointed downwards, and out these weapons poured the raging fires confronting us, growing in intensity, rising and climbing, flames fighting over each other to reach us first, the firestorm brought our escape to its full halt.

 _This can't be- How can THAT be here?_ I forced myself to swallow the fear and analyze the monster in front; this defied logic, how could a non-ghost alpha level species reside here, where was it hidden when we first came, why did it work with the ghosts, this didn't make sens-

The magmortar took a step forward, and I fell when Arsenal took a panicked step back. The twin arms rose slowly, and the sound of ghosts guffawing at Arsenal surrounded the staircase. The magmortar's lips parted, humongous they stood on the blast pokemon face, and it coughed a patch of smoke, the mouth twisting itself to an unmistakable grin. Venomous smog filled the chamber, rising slowly, catching up to us-

 _Unless,_ I thought, finally clueing in at why Arsenal of all pokemon would cower at the sight of a magmortar.

 _Unless… This isn't real._

I threw Paul's shell.

It wasn't a good throw – stuck in the middle of Arsenal and Callidora I didn't have much room and the target area was too narrow between the walls and the wartortle's humongous body anyway, but it did the job. The shell passed harmlessly through the flames which had melted _stone_ earlier and hit the magmortar on its head, and for one tiny teeny split second, the normal imagery of the staircase returned. The stone walls, steps, and circular downwards curling path; all were in place, except now, in the middle of it all stood a duo of grinning haunter, their concentration just barely broken by the shell grazing them.

Barely was enough.

With a deafening roar, meaty claws teared at the illusion, ripping the haunter in half, and Arsenal continued his warpath, albeit angrier and meaner before. I chased up after him, grabbing Paul's shell on the way, and Callidora pursued; so resumed our desperate escape attempt.

With one difference.

The laughter and giggling, the chuckles and cackles: They all ceased.

 _Red..._

"It's here." I finished the thought grimly. " _It_ is here…"

The number of torches had seemed to double, the water flooding this final chamber reflecting their numbers and shine, and yet, somehow the light was even dimmer than those halls we had passed. The cracked wall, the connecting gate to the lake outside, our ticket to escape stood at the other end of the room, below the surface, and was at a distance and depth even a child would have no trouble with diving, but the notion of hope, no, even the _attempt_ for hope was scraped clear by the _presence_ surrounding us, by… _it._

Dared I put it to words? Dared I, _could_ I describe the suffocating pressure I felt? Perhaps had I any talent equal to the legendary harpers of the lost Alph Kingdom I could begin to scratch the surface, begin to tell tales and equate it's gaze to raging volcanoes from primordial times spurting molten flames so intense they _froze_ with their touch, or could compare it to the void of deep space, in the center of nothing, far from any other occupying heavenly bodies, a singular point so absent of any heat source it _burned_. Perhaps the final Khan of the great Fuchsian empire in his supposedly infinite wisdom had the words I sought; had he, when Leonal Oak's armies had rampaged through his palace, and when he had bared witness to the end of his line's eight hundred years old reign, only for a new empire and king to take its place, one which would prove even more resistant to the ravages of time, found the words accurate enough to express the terrifying beauty, the alluring horror of witnessing _power_ crushing ways accustomed, undeniable and undefiable _power_ breaking one's own limits of self at the expense of _self_ , had he understood what I felt now?

I did not know, and no poet was I either. All I knew, could comprehend was, I stood at the nexus of a paradox, stood on the answer to the question _could a god create a stone he could not lift?_ – for even if all scriptures told me _it_ was an exact opposite of _god_ , I knew for sure, he was _a_ god.

And I had threaded on sacred ground.

 _Punishment is due, Red. It wants your life._

Had I been a brave man, I would whimper and cower at the visage. Had I been a romantic, I would sacrifice my loved ones for mercy; had I been strong I would be unable to lift a feather at the sight of those spiked wings.

Had I been a Champion, I would kneel and bow.

Lucky for me, _I was_ _not_.

 _I take it you're not ready to repent yet?_ The Rival grinned. _No? Good. Then allow me…_

A weight lifted, my first step into the water cleared the obscurities and monstrosities clouding my mind, and I noticed for the first time Callidora and Arsenal had been unaffected by the hauntings; they had stood confused behind and wondered why I hadn't lead them forwards, stood still at the most critical moment of our escape, and their worries let place for relief on their face when I finally moved.

My second step brought recognition. Yes, there was _power_ , there was rage and fury, bloodlust, all of them brought to extremities my feeble human mind could never comprehend, to godly proportions so terrifying it would have bent my will easily; had I not now also recognized a duo I was most familiar with: _Fear_ and _urgency_ ,they oozed from the monster like blood out a gushing wound, and they were not the most respectable of sights for a holy deity, no, they were not.

I smiled with my third step. The water was at my chest, and Arsenal and Callidora were at my flanks, but my eyes were fixed on the surface, on the same figure I had seen when Paul had plummeted to his death, and non-surprisingly, compared to then when it had covered the entirety of the lake for a brief second, the dragon of nightmares was now only a worm scaled to the size of this room, an eel wiggling harmlessly between the reflected torch-fires.

And The Rival, oh, he could be so _cruel_.

"What good is a god if he can only act through minions, right?" I mocked the visage openly. Callidora and Arsenal shook their heads in surprise, and perhaps worry, seeking the invisible to them enemy I addressed, but came up with nothing. I paid their antics no mind however, I _knew_ what was there.

"For all that power, you can't really do anything to us, can you?" I asked, delighted in how it shook and twisted to no avail. "Because if you could, you would have hurt us _before_ we reached the tower, when we were swimming here. You could have killed us then and there, but you didn't. You can't now either. Are you even actually somewhere _in_ the lake? I'm guessing not; it's just the full moon amplifying ghostly strength enough to project an image…"

I stared directly into its eyes. "You are _fake_."

The illusion roared back, but I ignored its ramblings and instead focused on Arsenal's ears twitching and Callidora's nostrils flaring. A looming dread was nearing, palpable in the air, and coupled with the cold water it made the hairs on my arms rise, yet compared to the presence from before, it was quite feeble.

But this one was real and could actually hurt us: The horde was returning.

"Maybe I stumbled into a secret not meant for men, and maybe you are its guardian or prisoner," I hurried the words. "Maybe you are the renegade monster from the Book of Alpha, or maybe you are just an undiscovered species waiting. It matters not."

"What matters is the _timing_ – it couldn't be worse for you," I continued. "Had I met you yesterday, or ten days before, or any other time in my life, I would have crumbled before you. _Begged_ you. Groveled. But… _you met me today._ "

I snarled the last words from my mouth. "And today, I am _not_ the delusional dreamer. I am _not_ the egoist who believed luck his mistress and destiny his bitch. Today, I am a motherfucking trainer. Today, stronger and smarter you seem, you are the leader, this tower and lake the battlefield, and the specters your monsters and team. Today, this whole event has been nothing but a match for me."

The cackles and giggles, the wails and cries, the shadows and shades all drew nearer and nearer; and I felt Callidora nudging me forwards, saw in Arsenal's eyes a debate to abandon us, but I cared not.

I was not done.

"And every-fucking-body knows," I spat into the water, right onto the monster's would-be face, "Pokemon Trainer Red does not _lose_. Good luck guessing how I did it."

The red light hit Callidora the same time Arsenal dove. I had purposefully delayed recalling her until the last minute to limit the overheating time the ball would suffer – the memory of the explosion leading to Paul's end was too fresh – and hoped the cold waters would provide cooling enough until I let her out again on shore.

 _If we make it to shore._

 _You said it yourself,_ I thought, clinging to Arsenal's shell with all my might. _I don't lose._

 _Just wanted to hear it from you,_ The Rival purred content.

The foe was many, and underwater, the tactic I had utilized to physically touch them would not work. What's more, our rear was now unprotected with one monster short, and an added sense of alert was added to the horde; as if an otherworldly hand was urging them to finish the job, _quickly._ Possessed corpses rose from the depths; shadow bonds replaced the bones missing muscle and sinew with skeletal hands holding cursed blades, an army of the ancients, the scouts and warriors of the Fuchsian cavalry and Saffronian knights once again marched, or rather, _swam_ to war under the control of the honedge and doublade which had felled them in the first place. Dusclops simply stood still and opened their hallow mouths, and the currents flowed to embrace the void behind, pulling a rather large number of the smaller sableye unable to fight against the stream with as prey, but so many were their numbers the torches' light was masked from the surface; their brethren fallen victim meant nothing. And the gengar held the cracked wall fortified, drawing the heat, they were attempting to _freeze_ our escape route shut.

But all their tricks, all their weapons meant nothing.

Not when I had an _Arsenal_ of my own; and no matter the strength or numbers, _water_ could never be the domain of those who dwelt in the shadows.

The strong currents could have pulled Arsenal back; had he not already swam outside their pull-zone. The sheer number of sableye dropping left and right from above could have finally broken through his thick shell; had his perfectly designed ears and eyes able to detect prey even in the darkest of waters not warned him ahead. And the sharp ends of the sword pokemon could have cut his limbs; had he not dodged all their strikes with the elegance of a kimono-girl on stage.

The best part was: This was not even his forte. A wartortle was not the best of swimmers among other water types, and it was obvious from his wide motions and pauses between turns Trainer Lotus had not trained him for underwater combat – a suspicion further strengthened when instead of sending a water-pulse to break the thin layer of ice the gengar were forming ,he crashed right into it, breaking through with his bulk and exposing himself to counter-attacks. But it mattered not to him, and the ghosts were too slow anyway; out of their caverns and forests, hills and burrows, out of the fog and mist, within an element in purest form, they struggled to maintain shape in the lake's waters, and their unchallenged rule over Lavender fields was now backfiring: So greedily had they held these lands, driving any competitors away, they had no experience in dealing with a water type in its own element.

But they were smart. They were learning.

And I was barely holding on anyway.

Like the ghosts, like Arsenal who only obeyed his base instincts, I too was inexperienced with underwater combat. In theory I knew everything needed of course, and in practice I had taken some classes by Pallet's calm shore with a training school lecturer and one friendly lanturn, but the reality of it was: It hurt.

A lot.

With every unexpected turn, the waterbody hit me harder than a machamp. At the speed Arsenal was going friction burns were unavoidable and Paul's conch tucked between my body and Arsenal's was biting deep into my skin; I could already feel where the bruises and blisters would later appear. And the wartortle's body gave no comfortable handle for me to grip: My fingernails were bleeding from having dug deep between the plates on the shell, and my thighs were burning because of the uncomfortable angle my legs had spread to clasp at the wartortle's armor.

All of this I had to manage, while also _holding my breath._

 _Any time now, Arsenal,_ I thought. Long had I lost my sense of up and down, bubbles were everywhere, and I barely held back my vomit. _If I drown here, I swear to Mew I will let a gengar possess my body and get back at you, any time now-_

"Haaaaaa!"

I gasped hard and long, starved I was for air, and my eyes rejoiced at the full moon staring back as I tilted my head backwards. "Good job-" I began once I had fulfilled my need for aid, but I cut it short – dizzy though I was, not enough to fail noticing we weren't in the clear yet.

He had flung me ashore from his back, and he must have emerged further than where we had first entered the lake, for the shore here was not sand but rock and dirt. A single tree leaned dangerously close to the lake's surface, white flowers briefly catching my eyes before I turned and faced the lake again.

And even facing the dangers confronting us, I couldn't help but sigh at Arsenal's _moronic_ fear the ghosts had taken shape of.

The bulk of the horde had been left behind, but a smaller pack had apparently stalked the shores patiently in case we slipped through their brethren's claws, and now they were confronting us in the shapes of canine monsters, an arcanine and ninetales. Alpha level species which reduced their prey to dust on sight, they would be slightly more believable if the ghosts hadn't pulled the exact _same_ trick with the magmortar; yet the effect was the same, Arsenal was once again paralyzed with fear.

 _Can't deal with this now…_

I set Callidora free – luckily the ball had held. She wasted no time on the sight of the whimpering Arsenal, she too had understood the situation and planted her feet protectively in front of me as I assessed the situation.

 _She doesn't have vines, but spores and leaves should be enough,_ _their numbers are less and if we break the illusion maybe Arsenal will join-_

A gust blew from the lake, bringing waves with.

And apparently an unseen more, since the illusion dissolved, and the ghosts revealed themselves.

 _What the-_

Arsenal's furious roar was met unchallenged, once again he had been tricked, but the ghosts did not _care._ I hardly believed it; but the duskull, ghastly, and banette building this small pack didn't just retreat, they _ran_ away, as if a houndoom was chasing them, they floated as fast as they could and turned invisible in mere seconds.

Seconds turned to minutes as I stood there shocked, unbelieving my luck.

 _That was… weird._

"Yeah…" I muttered. Callidora too growled at my feet, a surprised tone in her voice.

We both conveniently ignored Arsenal's unending roars though.

"Think they're gone?" I asked my ivysaur, eyebrow raised.

She sniffed the air once, then growled affirmatively.

"Okay… Then I guess we just survived a horde. Not a lot can say the same…" I stood there for another couple minutes, dumbfounded, still expecting more from the night, but nothing emerged. Shrugging my shoulders, I headed towards Arsenal and waited for his complaints to end.

"So… you're afraid of _fire_?" I managed asking between roars and heard Callidora behind me guffaw.

It was Arsenal's turn to ignore us.

"Wait, no, that can't be it," I said, suddenly enlightened. "Magmortar, arcanine, ninetales… That's _Blaine's_ team, that's…"

 _Oh._

Understanding came upon me as I recalled Trainer Danielle's bio Bill had sent me, and pity swelled my heart, but the mind too tired for comforting words and the body too exhausted for anything else, instead I just collapsed under the tree, and waited for Arsenal's tantrum to end.

Callidora nuzzled close, and I rested my arm between her neck and bud, gently scratching the top of her head. "You think you can find your way through the Blindspot to the city again?" I asked her thoughtfully.

She growled another approval.

"Good," I muttered, "good…"

 _We'll walk along shore till we reach our belongings,_ The Rival poked in, _and Callidora will lead us to Lavender. But there, Red…_

"I know," I muttered, feeling the edges of my dex in my back pocket clearly. "Believe me, I _know_."

))(())((

 _Objectively speaking, he played us beautifully…_

"As expected from the smartest man in Indigo," I replied, glancing at my dex.

After the long, long walk back to Lavender, I had half-expected Spike's gang waiting for me, but the sun had been rising, and their hour was the night. A quick stop to the pokecenter had confirmed Pikachu's and Dante's treatments were not finished, and the nurse had not been happy when I had also dropped Arsenal and Callidora. The trainer's store next-door had accepted to mend my pokeballs for a relatively affordable price and had also provided me with a vial of kasib gel – apparently, a bestselling product in Lavender. After I had finally returned to my room, all left waiting were a well-deserved shower and treatment for the minor wounds I had suffered. Paul's shell I had taken with me of course, no way was I leaving his last memoir behind, and now it stood like a holiday souvenir on the small table my room offered; a sight disrespectful for a pokemon who had sacrificed so much, but the truth was I didn't have it in me to bury him _here_. His grave deserved sunlight, perhaps a spot close to the ocean or a river, not the grey clouds ever looming over Lavender fields.

But this demanded later attention, for there was a much more pressing issue to be dealt with.

My pokedex.

I twisted and turned it in my hand for the hundredth time, examining the outside casing, pondering whether or not to screw it open and check the delicate inner mechanisms, only to give up but then come back to the idea again and again. Mixed feelings rose within every time I passed the device from one hand to another. This trusty gadget had literally saved my life before, and aside from one small malfunction it had suffered from north of Cerulean, it had run perfectly until now. A pokedex was every trainer's ultimate helper, but this one meant far more to me than the standard item distributed to every chump of a trainer, no, _this_ one was special, for it had been created by the two brightest minds Indigo could offer; a symbol of the expectations my own talent had brought.

 _Both of you are gifted in more ways than one,_ I recalled Professor Oak's speech. _The league was distressed when they heard I was handing these valuable prototypes to two novice trainers,_ _but I convinced Lance that both of you were more capable than your age._

I closed my eyes; this device I held in my hands, it represented the acknowledgement the smartest man I ever knew had shown in my skills – granted, I had not been the sole recipient of his approval, but Blue was hardly a _novice_ trainer himself. Professor Oak had made it seem as if he had pulled some strings just to arrange this _gift_ , he had made it seem as such an advanced device was our _right_ because we were _special_ , and that he wouldn't allow something trifling like the law or league regulations get in the way.

 _Except he lied_ , The Rival sharply cut in. _He knew exactly how to appeal to both of your egos._

It was true – the one thing neither me nor Blue would question was our own greatness. But looking back now, I was forced to admit something was fishy. Over six months had passed since we were given this _"latest software version of the Indigo pokedex"_ – shouldn't there have been a press conference marketing this new technological wonder by now? Shouldn't the preparations for mass production, the distribution of the device to all new trainers have begun, shouldn't the media have at least caught a clue and run a few articles over this new brainchild of Samuel Oak and William Stein? According to Professor Oak, only me, Blue, Bill, himself, league members, and, oh well, _Champion Lance_ knew of this. Everyone on the list, aside myself, were too high profile, the media had coverage over these people daily - there was absolutely _no way_ a new update to such an integral part of the training system wouldn't be leaked by now, it defied common sense.

 _But suppose it didn't_ , I extended Professor Oak a branch of doubt in my mind, _suppose I'm just paranoid, and this really is for some reason a too well-kept secret, then-_

 _Then it still doesn't explain what happened in the Blindspot,_ The Rival interrupted once again. _That shit back there – that wasn't natural._

And that underlined the main reason of my unease. Last night, when I was lost in the Blindspot, my pokedex had _definitely_ tracked something – on that there now existed no doubt. It was the dex's tracking function which had first led me to the lake, then the tower, then to the rockets themselves. Furthermore, the app had shut down the exact moment of the rockets' escape and… _the beast's_ initial appearance.

 _Did anything else happen?_ I tried racking my brain, reliving the memories. _I guess Paul's fall also counts, and there was also the hostage, Jifu, I think, but…_

 _That's not the point,_ The Rival argued. _The point is: This dex is more than it seems and has its own agenda. Let's face it, Red, last night was no mere coincidence, the dex fulfilled – or is still fulfilling? – its designed purpose, because it's pretty much certain now Granddaddy Oak did not give us these toys out of the kindness of his heart: He planned something with these, something not even the league knew, and he's not the kind of guy to shy away from using his own flesh and blood grandson as a pawn, let alone some neighbor's kid._

The words… hurt. Even I was surprised they did, but they did. _Hurt_. Hurt, because there was truth embedded in them, and having passed the denial phase, I was promptly moving over to anger.

 _I've been used._ I couldn't shake myself free from the thought; it bounced around in my head from one corner to another, a song mocking my very self. _I've been reduced to a pawn, ME, a pawn!_

 _What's done is done, Red. The question is, what will you do now?_

The idea came abruptly, inspired half from frustration and half from last night's exercise; I stood up and grabbed Paul's by now well worn out shell, placed the dex on the table, and-

 _Bam._

I struck with all my might, again and again, until the protective metal was shred open, bashed inwards, and broken to pieces, until the circuitry hidden within was spilled out from its casing like blood from a wound, until part of the table chipped away and broke under the repeated strikes and the shell flew away from my hand, hit the wall across with a thud, and fell harmlessly on the bed; but I was not done. I stomped on the remaining pieces of the same device which I owed my life to under Mt. Moon, and only exhaustion finally halted me from my task as I threw myself to the bed, tears from my eyes I could not explain staining the sheets.

 _That… was excessive. But otherwise, quite necessary,_ The Rival whispered into my ear. _We'll apply for a new one at a league burro, one untainted by the machinations of a manipulative old bastard. We never needed the privilege, Red, I don't see us starting now._

I quietly internalized his words; the rush of adrenaline passing, the full fatigue of last night's adventures was beginning to overwhelm me, and the comfort of the bed was blurring my thoughts.

Still, I managed a few last words before drifting off completely. "I should have warned Blue," I muttered, tired. "He's also a pawn in this, he is…"

 _No, Red,_ The Rival sighed. _No. Have you learned nothing yet, Red? All the troubles we've encountered so far, from the rockets to Paul's death, all our problems have stemmed from one thing: You beginning to care._

"That's not-" Before the words left my mouth, The Rival began anew.

 _You cared for the fairies, and got tortured by the rockets for it, Red. You cared for Melanie and lost against your rival. You cared for Nolan, and the rockets nearly killed you. You cared for the souls aboard the S.S. Anne enough to crash the party, and we almost drowned in it. You cared enough to pursue questions about your father, and it got Paul killed. All of this, it's no one else's fault but yours, Red,_ The Rival whispered sadly.

 _You've forgotten your roots. You've forgotten what has brought us success. You've forgotten the cold calculations behind each match and believed victory a given. You've forgotten how we were a manipulative bastard for whom no cost was above the win. You've forgotten the single-minded years of hard work and effort put in our studies and lost focus in worldly desires like petty vengeance._

 _You've forgotten our promise to conquer the summit._

I wished to argue back. I wished to explain how he was excluding the circumstances leading to each situation he had described, but-

 _Excuses are for the weak, Red. You've been so misdirected from your goal lately, you probably haven't even realized we qualify for a flying license._

My jaw dropped open – he was, right, this had never occurred to me at all.

 _That's what I'm saying, Red. You've lost the fire – remember the guy so angry in Viridian Forest because his bike got trashed and his journey got delayed for what, four, five days? That was when we had three years, Red, now we have less than two and a half, and we still need to win five more badges on a ladder where the difficulty exponentially increases with each badge. Three-badgers are qualified for a flying license - Can you imagine how much time we would have saved by flying instead of strutting on foot or bike?_

"But… I don't have a monster that can fly," I argued back.

 _Exactly my point. You've forgotten your responsibilities as a trainer, Red, you're using your battlers for day to day tasks and aren't allowing them time to rest – you think Arsenal could have ambushed us that first night so easily had Callidora and Pikachu not been dead tired? You think forcing Dante to act as a flashlight was the right thing to do in Rock Tunnel – had he not collapsed from fatigue we could have used him last night, and maybe with an added mon, Paul would still be alive. Have you ever thought of that?_

"I-I, no, I-" I could only stammer: How could anyone fight against such rationally crafted arguments?

 _Enough, Red,_ The Rival said gently. _No more excuses. I myself am at fault too and confess there was a time I gave up on you, but last night you showed me the real Red, the toughest son of a bitch I know. You faced foes superior in distressful times, but you pushed away your emotionality and focused on the battle, exploiting the weakness your enemies shared – that tactic was brilliant._

 _So, let's rest now, Red, it was a harsh night, and we need it. But when we wake up, let's regroup the team. Let's add some new numbers to give the main battlers some rest time, let's find some sparring partners, swimmers, flyers, teleporters, shadowers, surfers and all that shit. Let's determine our next course since our original plan is shattered; should we aim for Saffron, or skip Kanto and head to Johto? Let's forget the rockets and finally refocus our attention on the only thing that matters, Red: The Championship. What do you say partner, ready for this challenge once again?_

"Yes," I promised myself, and felt the newfound strength filling me; a mental one rather than physical, for physically, sleep was beginning to take hold. " _Yes_. Let's do this."

 _New day, old horizons, Reddy boy,_ The Rival finally smiled. _Let's go fuck'em all up._

))(())((

"I understand, Mr. Red, but I'm afraid league rules are quite clear on this matter: Pokecenters offer free care to trainers _only_ in cases of wild attacks or after official matches," Nurse Erin Wells exclaimed in an exasperated manner. "And our doctor's report has determined your wartortle the cause behind your pikachu's injuries-"

"But as I keep trying to explain you," I said, frustrated at the stubbornness of Lavender Pokecenter's staff, "I caught Arsenal only _after_ he had attacked Pikachu, by the time of the injuries he was a wild pokemon!"

She put on her fakest smile before replying, "I'm sure a trainer of your prominence can understand, Mr. Red, if pokecenters were to believe every trainer who has made this claim before, our budget would not last one week and we would be forced to shut. I'm sorry, but it's league procedure to take the doctor's word over the trainer's and treat these cases as 'infighting within trainer's team' rather than 'wild attack'. If you'd like to make an official complaint, however," She kindly offered, "please be aware you will need to submit carefully documented evidence of the wild attack's timing – I would suggest against this action though, Mr. Red, for if your evidence does not hold in court, the penalty will most likely exceed the pokecenter's fee greatly."

"Would a psychicer's report backing my claim as true count as proof?" I asked.

"Ah, under Lance's management such reports are no longer valid for trainer's above two-badges – something about capable trainers being able to deceive the psychic pokemon, I'm sure as a trainer you would know better than me." She continued that fake smile.

"…Fine." I glared. "How much do I need to pay again?"

"Well, there's also the expenses of your charmeleon." She checked the dex screen in front of her. "His wounds fall under 'trainer mismanagement and abuse', which clearly cannot be expected to be treated for free, making the total sum…"

 _Now this is something we haven't confronted for a while,_ The Rival chuckled once I had exited the pokecenter relieved of an incredible amount of credits, but my belt fully equipped with the four pokeballs I owned. _We're broke._

I nodded, a perpetual frown on my face. Between paying for the luxury king sized suite I had rented and the broken table and mirror there, the mended pokeballs, applying for a pokedex, and new support items I needed for the road, and now these pokecenter expenses, I was faced with a reality I hadn't encountered since defeating Brock - poverty. Since I was a freelance trainer, not tied to the military, police force, ranger's organization, or any other private establishment, naturally I had no steady income and lived from gym prize to gym prize. This hadn't been a problem until now because the prize money increased exponentially with each badge – after Surge I basically had a small fortune, and the winning I had made on the Trainer's Haven was icing to the cake - and I had always spent carefully, but now my last ten days' attitude towards life was biting me in the ass.

 _We still have enough for one gym match fee,_ I thought, getting on my bike. _We'll have to make our winnings there, or we could backtrack to the Trainer's Haven and earn some easy money._

 _Pass._ The Rival yawned when he heard my offer. _We'd lose too much time for too little gain – and besides, it's not like we lose gym matches, this money problem is only temporary. Let's just decide the next city, Red._

"Well, we could head south to Fuchsia," I muttered. "Except on bike, that journey would take forever. We can't afford teleporting, not that we can port anyway out of Lavender. We already came from north, and there's only the wild and eventually the ocean towards the east, so… West?"

 _Saffron it is then,_ The Rival said. _Let's add Sabrina to the list of leaders defeated._

"That's probably not wise," I argued.

 _Why? Don't tell me we can't take her, Red!_

"No, it's not that," I explained. "Saffron's the most crowded city in Kanto and a central hub for trainers – do you know how long we'll have to wait until Sabrina's schedule is free for a battle? More than our money would last, I'm telling you, and there's a limit to how much we can hunt and gather from the wild."

 _So… where to then?_

"Celadon," I answered.

 _Urgh…_

"It's the most logical choice," I tried convincing myself. Already was Lavender's western gate in sight, so I pushed on the Aggronator's pedals harder. "Erika's the easiest leader in Indigo, and Celadon's only busy in the summer. The Underground will take us right to its eastern gate – we'll avoid Saffron's traffic and also have a nice, clear space to train. It took twenty days from Cerulean to Vermilion on foot last time we were there, this route is shorter and we're on bike, at worst it will take ten days."

 _And we don't need too much extra time to train since Erika's a cakewalk,_ The Rival added, finally convinced. _Yeah, I can see this working, Red. Good plan._

"Thanks," I muttered, flashing the town guards my license. A few pedals later, Lavender Town was officially behind me. "Now, let's catch some new recruits…"

 _Aren't you forgetting something though?_

"No." I answered curtly. "I can't release Pikachu _now_ – I have no idea how he'll react, he's never been so seriously injured and trapped in the ball for so long. I'd prefer releasing him once I'm done with everything else, and with Callidora and Dante also out in case he reacts violently. Dante will be fine either way – it's not his nature to complain, and I still have to renew my arrangement with Arsenal: He'll need some convincing to drop the rocket hunt, and for that particular debate, I'd much rather have my full team at my side."

 _Perfectly rationalized,_ The Rival said, gleeful. _It's nice to see you back, Red._

"Thanks," I said, pushing against the wind blowing towards me. "It does feel great to be _back._ "

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry for the late update – this last month life hit me like a truck.**

 **About the chapter: The tactic Red used in the tower to contact the ghosts was deliberately not explained and will be left for the next chapter. Other than that, everything's pretty much self-explanatory, I guess.**

 **Next update: Two chapters will be posted until the 21** **st** **, which marks the one year mark for this fic. I can't give exact dates, but I'm thinking one next week and another on the twentieth – this time for reals, lol, I know I've promised a few chapter dumps in the past and failed, but I've got my shit together now.**


	22. Chapter 18 Walk into my Parlour

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.**

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Walk into my Parlour:

 _Erika, aka The Nature-Loving Princess, dubbed so for her grass type team and kindly manners. She received her training license at the late age of 21 but won four badges in the following five years and at age 27 applied to her hometown's gym for a gym-aide position. She inherited the gym at age 30 and has remained Celadon City Leader for the last ten years. Her main team consists of: Victreebel. Vileplume. Exeggutor. Breloom. Tangrowth. Cradily. Her signature pokemon: Ayahuasca the Tangrowth. Her starter: Peyote the Oddish._

 _The cradily's the real problem,_ I thought, further scrolling revealing the beast's name as Sativa. _It covers the common fire, poison, bug, and flying weaknesses, while its own weak points ice and steel are handled by the breloom, Datura. But otherwise, this doesn't seem as impossible as Misty or Surge..._

Relieved, I sighed and tried refraining my body from unnecessary shifting. It had taken me hours to stalk the wild xatu back to her nest - the new pokedex's tracking app completely sucked, and the casing wasn't shielded against psionic residue so the map function always bugged out – and even more time had passed since I had camped hidden under some bushes surrounding the tall tree with nothing to do but fiddle on my dex and plan for Celadon Gym. Any moment now the xatu would once again fly off to hunt, leaving the nest defenseless and the baby natu ripe for taking, but until then, it would be best to stay undetected.

At least there were no worries of a wild attack here. My dex couldn't exactly pinpoint my location, but I knew I wasn't that far away from route K08 leading to Saffron, and while the swamps here still technically counted part as the indominable wild of Lavender, so close to the manmade roads I was sure no pack would dare act out, yet alone a horde.

Of course, sticking this close to the safe route had its shortcomings. I wanted both a teleporter and a shadower, and the truly strong psychic and dark monsters dwelt deep in the wild; this close to man, a trainer would have to settle for the weaklings. A natu was certainly no gardevoir or alakazam, but it wasn't as if I was aiming to use one for battle, this capture was meant to ease long distance travelling, nothing more.

 _Finally, it's leaving._

With a caw, the xatu took flight and I emerged from my hiding spot. The tree where the beast had made nest only supported branches up high, but the problem was easily solved once I released a healed Callidora. Twin vines thick enough for me to hold surrounded the trunk following an intertwining path, and after a quick climb, I was confronted with a trio of newly hatched natu, each about the size of my hand, chirping hungrily.

A very faint presence reached out to my mind, but the chicklings were too young and weak to break my mental defenses. I picked out the plumpest of the birds - female, I noticed - and her siblings revolted in angry chirpings, protests I easily ignored. After grabbing her from the nest and sliding down the tree, I held the reward of this venture in my palm: A frightened bird covered in green feathers except on the beautifully colored bright wings.

I took out my pocketknife and crudely clipped them.

Doing my best to ignore the pained shrieks, I recalled Callidora and walked back to the Aggronator. This crippling was not done needlessly; effectively flightless now, growing up, the pokemon's body would instinctively focus on mental development rather than a physical one, increasing the range of its teleporting distance and number of biological units it could carry with greatly. The bird was still too young to perform such journeys, the capability of bending space-time came only with age, but her powerful mind would still register each location she traveled with me to memory, places to be pulled out from her "databank" when she matured and was ready for teleporting.

 _That's the Red I like to see,_ The Rival cheered as I placed my newest acquisition in a cage adjusted to the front of the Aggronator. Its sides were made of transparent plastic, so the bird would always have sight of our whereabouts. _Thinking ahead, making future investments… I reckon a shadower is next?_

"Yes," I answered, getting up on my bike. "We'll catch a dark type while still in the Lavender wilds – I can't believe I used to have one and sold it for a rental _suit_."

 _That was a distracted Red, Reddy boy, pay that one no mind. What's next after a dark type?_

"Well, we'll follow route K08 further. Today we might go more off-path than the following days, though. We still need some essential B-team members for flying, surfing, and sparring, and outside of Lavender fields' influence, we'll see a more variety of monsters other than ghosts, psychics, and darks. Eventually we'll reach the Underground and in about ten days Celadon. There, I expect a somewhat one-week long delay between our registration at the gym and the official match the aides will schedule me in for, which will theoretically be right around the time our leftover cash will dwindle."

 _And what's the plan for Erika?_

"Her gym rules state a fourth badge challenge is a double battle where the trainer is allowed up to four mons against her two. This gives us _too_ much of an advantage – compared to Surge, Erika's match conditions are so ridiculously easy they should be banned. No wonder almost every trainer's first combat-based badge is from Celadon, I just checked the rules, and there it's a six vs one single battle in favor of the challenger – she should learn from Brock." I snorted, recalling Diamondback and the maximum number of two allowed to face against the monstrous rock-snake. "Like I said, Celadon, easiest gym in Indigo."

"Granted, her team build is really good," I admitted, "and so is her ace Ayahuasca. Not Roulette or Ira level good, but good enough to wipe my team if I don't come up with some sort of strategy – luckily, she has bent her own rules so much, it shouldn't be hard to come up with a four-pokemon based double battle strat."

 _And do we have such a plan in mind?_

"It's not _entirely_ there," I confessed. "But to say I don't have a general idea…"

I thought of Callidora and how she was currently my best battler; though Arsenal was overall stronger, it wasn't a guarantee he would follow my orders, and he already faced a type mismatch against Erika's team. The problem with Callidora however was that there was nothing she could bring to the battle Erika's team could not counter and do _better_ , I wasn't underestimating Erika enough to claim in a battle of grass types I could win.

Which only left Pikachu and Dante. Pikachu, whom against Erika's team held a defensive advantage, and Dante, who lacked the firepower to break through these gym-level beasts anyway – a hopeless confrontation.

 _But if battles were to be won solely by monsters' strength, then what need would there be of trainers?_

"Yeah," I muttered, the strategy a pikachu and charmeleon could utilize coming to mind. It wouldn't be as uncommon as a trick room or pledge combo, but if I played my cards right, it could be just as surprising to Erika as my parafusion strategy had been against Brock, and once the duo wounded Erika enough, a switch to the stronger Arsenal and Callidora could land a finishing blow. "Yeah, we'll need some training, but not too much, and I can see this working."

 _Then all that's left is…_

"Yes," I agreed. "All that's left is releasing Pikachu."

))(())((

Last time, his entrapment had lasted the entirety of my month-long imprisonment, and when freed, he had spent hours comatose on Bill's front yard.

This one had been for less than a few days.

Needless to say, he did _not_ emerge comatose.

"Callidora," I ordered calmly.

Long ago, he was her better. His instincts, speed, and long-distance coverage were in a different class, and even up close, his larger size bought an unfair advantage. His mutated genetics had bred a fighter out of a meek species, and the experiences he had in facing stronger foes far outshone hers. On top of it all, his base talent was supported by an unyielding warrior's heart, a belief of superiority backed by a stubborn courage, he had never met a foe he hadn't vanquished eventually.

If anything, he was _too much_ like me. Both of us always the underdog, after tasting victory after victory, we had grown fat and lazy on it, thought it a default standard, a rule holding reality together, and by believing so, we had forgotten the climb we had made to reach the point we were now; a delusion I had broken free of at a terrible price.

He, however, I was sure had not. The wartortle's attack had dealt a crippling blow, and any other monster would be humbled by the experience, learn and grow from it, but I _knew_ the current Pikachu would not feel so. I knew he would justify his defeat, defend it. I knew in his mind, the loss was everyone's fault but his: Had the wartortle not ambushed us he would have no doubt won a fair fight, had the assaulter not prepared berries beforehand his thunder would without question break through that mighty shell, had his useless teammates not been there and restricted his mobility he would indisputably be the victor; simply because he was _worthy_ of the title.

I knew all these because I had been where he stood now, and I knew, once refreshed and healed, Pikachu would be driven for revenge, filled with a pointless, self-destructive need to kill. Like the scars James had left on my body, the sensation of Arsenal's teeth ripping through his flesh would never leave him and poison his thoughts, incepting him with the idea that the only way to feel whole again would be through spilled _blood_.

As I said, I knew the feeling - and also the cure.

Once, he had been her better.

 _Not anymore._

Aggressive from his entrapment, Pikachu lashed out in thunder and lightning. Almost blind he was from fury, the grass under his feet withered and dried under the heat of crackling electricity, but his clouded mind did not shroud the sight of Callidora ready for a confrontation, and suddenly a target was set. Long had he loathed her, he had only tolerated her presence for my sake, but currently even that bond was forsaken: In the madness of rage, gone was the efficient killer, the trained starter, and only the wild beast stood in his stead.

For the split of a second, my heart wavered. Fear briefly touched my soul as I reverted to my childhood, to my first encounter with this monster, and how he had me scarred me for life.

But then _she_ marched, and the fright was replaced with confidence. I remembered I had long outgrown that foolish phase of my life; the truth was, we _both_ had, both him and me. Our one in a million talents, our unyielding will, our fighting skills had all been forged and steeled into the unopposable storm they were today by sweat and blood, by experience and hard-work. He and I, we had been connected more than any other member of my team, for the years we had spent for this challenge had been equal even when we were unaware of our destiny, the time I had spent as a fledgling in training school to become the greatest had been equal to that he had spent in a lab being readied as a graduate's starter. Both of us were born _great_ through the luck of genetics, but to become _perfect_ we had worked to the bone; a reminder I often repeated to myself since Paul's departure.

And it was my very intention to remind Pikachu so – even if I had to beat the idea into him.

The first chorus of lightning hit a thick shield of extended vines, yet they still seemed to injure because Callidora shrieked in pain and pulled back. If only in a healthier state of mind, then Pikachu would recognize the same trick she had pulled against Trainer Atana's sandslash, but delirious and fixated on victory, he took the bait and drove close, his fur cackling bright as static energy built around. Equipped with a thunderous coat fit for Raikou the Beast itself, the hindlegs bent and the foreclaws dug deep – a mere second later he was up in the air, ready to tear and rip by claw and teeth.

He landed on a thick cloud of dust, a yellow powder scattered in the air.

 _She could have used the sleeping powder and ended it,_ The Rival commented, _but she chose to paralyze him instead. The distaste's mutual, and she's being needlessly cruel – good thing she's not old enough to secrete her poison through spores yet._

"Cruel is good," I said coldly. "Cruel he will understand…"

Sneezing, Pikachu crawled out of the yellow cloud, but now my ivysaur was on the assault. A multitude of vines cracked in the air, and on pure instinct Pikachu avoided the first two, but on the third and fourth, his legs buckled – the paralyzed nerves were showing their effect. Thorns cut across, and in contact with his electric fur their tips sizzled and burned; but still, they were the one to draw first blood, and if possible, that seemed to double the rage of Pikachu. Howling in pain and fury, electricity crackled along his slender body, and Callidora wisely retracted the four extended vines from the impending high-voltage death Pikachu offered.

Yet, only _four_ she had retracted, and she had done some growing up from her fight against Roulette all those months ago: Her limit now stood at _six_.

Entwined, the already thick on their lonesome vines formed one massive strand; what this battering ram lacked in speed and accuracy, it made up with _sheer_ _force_. The power-whip hit him from the side, its thickness a shield against the current voltage he was at, and even my weaker than the beasts' sight caught Pikachu's eyeballs bulging from pain, yes, but also from _surprise_ at how he had failed to both notice and dodge the massive attack; but Callidora's masterful performance was not done. Flung in the air, Pikachu too late noticed Callidora had aimed his landing, and suddenly leech seeds erupted, landing on his back, they fed on the emitted energy and grew their small vines, fully ensnaring him, limiting his already through paralysis restricted mobility and draining his strength further and further until the legs disobeyed the mind commanding them and Pikachu collapsed, his hateful eyes focused on the enemy.

And then the enemy _moved_.

So far, Callidora had refrained from closing in and had kept the battle perfectly at the mid-range distance she excelled at. She had played Pikachu's love for close-combat perfectly, taunted him and taken away the speed advantage he held over her, and finally damaged him enough once she had guaranteed her slower hits would land. Utilizing every strategy I had taught her to the fullest, her already very sharp mind had calculated the steps forward to victory carefully, and now she was receiving her reward: Her shadow cast long on the fallen foe, as it would always be once the trained confronted the wild fairly.

And then, finally the glimmer I sought in Pikachu's eyes arrived as Callidora opened her venom-dripping jaw and jolted forwards – the spark of maddened recognition. For the first time in this battle, Pikachu now _truly_ saw Callidora, saw she had grown experienced while he had remained stale, saw in size they were no longer compatible as the ivysaur even without her tall bud which exceeded my height was bulkier and larger, and saw the outcome of this clash had already been determined through structured strategy before the first blows were exchanged.

So naturally - and I did not blame him for this: I too had been in his place - he _fought back_. The flash in his fur grew to a blinding level; I knew what he was aiming for, it was his only play left. Similar to another life-or-death situation when Arsenal had almost snapped him in half, he would once again discharge _everything,_ hoping the amount of energy would be enough to exceed the upper limit the parasitic seeds could absorb, breaking him free, and then still have enough left over to kill the yet uninjured and rested Callidora.

It was futile and hopeless. It would never work and even if he went through the process without harm, recollecting himself from a total drainage would cost too much time, a luxury I no longer tolerated.

 _This is when you interfere, Red,_ The Rival said quietly.

I stepped in between the advancing Callidora and burning bright Pikachu. Behind me, I heard the dissatisfied growl of my ivysaur – she had truly enjoyed beating up on my starter – but I ignored her and focused my attention on Pikachu instead.

"Remember this?" I pulled my sleeve, revealing the Lichtenberg figure. "Remember its importance?" I asked, referring to the conversation we had in the motel room in Viridian City.

"You should. I told you that night. I told you why I was glad it was _you_ who was my starter and not an ekans or something else." The fur retained its brightness as I spoke, but at least the crackling noise had stopped. Heartened, I continued.

"I told you I was glad it was _you_ when I also explained why I would be dissatisfied with any other pikachu. I remember telling you explicitly that your species was weak and frail, not a fit for an aspiring champion." A smile formed on my face when I heard the half-threatening, half-teasing growl, so similar it was to the one from back then. "Of course, then, you weren't half the size you were – could we ever imagine you would grow into the oversized freak you are today? I think not, but I digress…"

"I told you I was glad it was _you_ that night because if even a member of a weak species like yourself could do _this_ ," I gestured my forever scarred arm forwards, "this permanent damage, then my goal, my aim was truly too dangerous for mortal men, and on this path, I would not be allowed the slightest misstep, the smallest distraction. If my foolishness had caused even a small _pikachu_ to hurt me this much, then a lack of concentration against any threat greater would _surely_ get me killed, and I was glad you were to be my partner, because you would forever remind me of the cost."

Frowning, I reached into my bag and dropped Paul's shell I had carried all the way from Lavender.

"I failed." I admitted. "I forgot. I got sidetracked, and the cost came and asked its due. I was _lucky_ it did not demand me instead. But I made this a second reminder. I came back." I knelt in front of him and extended my right arm a careful distance from his fur. "I'm asking the same from you. You were almost killed by Arsenal. Today, Callidora could do the same. They both won, because like me, you too _forgot_."

I paused, this part would be critical. "Our excellence, it came from the effort we put in. Without it, we were only _great_ , and on our path, that is never enough. So, come back," I pleaded. "Trust in me again. Train with me again. And I promise, at the very least, you'll get another, _better_ shot at Callidora."

And to all this, to my – in my opinion – very moving speech, he responded in a fashion so _him_ : He snorted.

A comfortable warmness spread to my body when the calmed down Pikachu sniffed at my scar – a familiar sight not seen for so long, its simplicity alone assured my belief I was, we were, finally, after a very long time, back and on the correct path. My heart elevated in joy; after all, while Callidora followed and Dante obeyed, it was only with Pikachu I never felt desynchronized, I never had to explain myself. It was him who never missed the rhythm to our dance, him who reacted as passionately as I did to all, and now, he was, we both were, finally ourselves again.

"Yes," My voice gradually gained strength and turned into laughter as I rubbed his back. "Pokemon Trainer Red is back – and so is _Pikachu_."

))(())((

"What the- Woah, watch it!"

The warning came barely in time – I steered the Aggronator with all my might at the expense of losing balance and fell off-route on the soft grass. No harm was done, but the natu perched in front tweaked in annoyance from her plastic cage.

Pikachu, spared the accident because he traveled on foot, curiously sniffed at the bone spikes protruding from the ground, a trap completely encircling the line of caravans which crowded the Underground's entrance. Great beasts were anchored up front the carriages, thick chains running from their wide, flat heads to the pulleys, the peaceful bastiodon herd lay lazily and feasted on the mouthful of hay their caretakers shoveled in front of them. Never before had I seen so many tamed pokemon at once, and never had I seen fossil pokemon regulated to the mundane duty of transportation either.

"Hey, you okay?"

The one who offered me a hand up was a burly, rough looking man, I would place his age at the late twenties. His belt shined with added pokeballs – a trainer, I presumed, and the large feline following him strengthened my assumption. The royal pokemon shook its dominant, fire-red mane as he approached his master, eyes curiously fixed first upon myself, then my poor natu. A hungry yawn revealed the sharp teeth equipped, and the tiny bird pokemon chirped in panic.

"No harm done," I muttered and pulled myself up. "Would have appreciated a sooner warning, but no harm done."

The trainer apologetically chuckled. "Sorry, it's just we thought ourselves the only travelers from east – not the busiest road, Lavender to Saffron."

"I too thought the same thing. Which makes me ask," I tilted my head towards the convoy blocking the Underground's entrance. "What's all this?"

"Oh! Yeah, sorry. The name's Trainer King," He gave an embarrassed grin. "I picked it when I was young and stupid, and also after my starter was assigned, so there's the story of that dumbass name."

"And now he's old but still stupid, so the name's still a dumbass one. Trainer Lunar." A second trainer dropped in on the conversation and introduced herself, carefully jumping over the bone trench. She looked the same age as King, and behind her rolled a particularly curious looking pokemon. The body was spherical, but not as smooth as a voltorb: The outer surface was covered by a rough shell. A pair of eyes quickly gave a small peek between the two halves of the shell before the gap closed shut again.

I didn't introduce myself back, and they didn't seem to notice as they continued with their explanation. "They're carrying a fresh harvest of berries from Fuchsia," Lunar pointed back at the convoy. "And we were hired to keep guard all the way until Cerulean – the smell of berries in tons has attracted all kinds of hell."

"That's… quite the journey." I glanced back at the bastiodon. "Why didn't your client use the teleporting system instead?"

"Beats me." It was King this time who answered as he shrugged his shoulders. "Rumor has it something's been off with the city-psychics for a while now, goods supposed to be delivered go up missing and other shit. There's this whole theory going on that things are so fucked up even legit porting services like Viridian Travels accidentally sent some tourists right on top of Mt. Mortar instead of the designated Pewter – some vacation that must've been!"

Lunar joined his laughter. "And because we're carrying some serious cargo, our client accepted Silph Transportation's offer for a ride." She nodded again towards the bastiodon.

"Silph Transportation?" I asked, surprised.

"You haven't heard? Old man Silph's been branching out since the S.S. Anne." King's voice lost its cheerful tone and gained a respectful somber, the S.S. Anne had truly been a national tragedy. "They say he's found some new vigor in age – stocks are up, up, up! And with the recent crisis in the space-time field, Silph Co. was the first to offer some old-school, safer methods of transportation. They say he's made some serious money from this – and good for him! No father should have suffered what he did," King finished.

"Good for him," Ivy agreed. "And us! I'm telling you, this bug in the city-porters has seriously opened some new opportunities for trainers – escort prices are sky-high! We're rolling in cash. You got badges kid, or you a rookie?"

Apparently, despite Pikachu at my side, this duo did not connect my identity to the famous three-badger Trainer Red, or they weren't really that up to date with all the newbies – in fairness, it wasn't like I too knew _every_ veteran, only the potential rivals.

"Three," I answered.

"Well, Silph asks for a minimum six, so he's a no-go for you, but there are other, smaller businesses," King tried politely reassuring me. "I'm sure you can make some good dough."

"Thanks, but I think I'll aim for more badges than settle for the small fish," I answered. "One last thing though – why are you using the Underground? Travelling through Saffron City would be shorter, wouldn't it?"

Lunar snorted. "An added request from the client – they're paranoid about the two snorlax near Saffron. It's also why we set these traps at every break." She gestured towards the bone spikes her forretress had laid.

"They're right to be afraid," King argued. "Can you imagine a snorlax catching the scent of all those berries we're carrying? Don't know about you, but I don't want to be the trainer who got between a snorlax and its meal, not for all the money in Indigo. The underground path is safer, and besides, I've never been down there – would be nice to see something that survived Agatha's Fall."

"I have," I said. "And you might be disappointed. It's all rats and pretty much nothing else – watch out for the pikachu, rattata, and sandshrew. I reckon they'll want a bite as well."

"Rats we can handle – no offence," Lunar added, smiling at Pikachu. "Snorlax, another thing. Though I don't think they'll be an issue, they say Elite Bruno's been tracking them and has driven them further west. He'll eventually catch and put an end to these monsters surely," She nodded believingly.

"I guess…" I sighed. "Well, you've both been very helpful, but I need to get going – any chance of that happening?"

"Sorry, kid," King looked ashamed. "Big Donna – she's the matriarch of the herd – just collapsed dead tired front the entrance. It usually takes her a few hours to get back up, but you want to go and wake her, be my guess."

I looked over King's shoulder at the humongous beasts once again.

 _A few hours loss is no big deal,_ The Rival assured me. _These things will happen – let's make the most of it and draw up a training regimen for Erika. There's also these new recruits you have which need some taming._

I gently patted the four new pokeballs hanging to my right. The first was a blinded, beaten half to death sneasel lying on the route just as I had almost been out of Lavender's influence; most likely the runt of a litter and left to die. The second was a gluttonous ninjask lured away from its hive by Callidora's scent, and the third a playfully curious vigoroth which had watched my bike from the tree tops and had eventually come down attracted by the turning wheels. The final mon was a starly I had caught in a similar fashion to the natu.

I was quite happy with these catches; the sneasel, like the natu, would be of extreme value in the future once he learned how to travel through the shadows, the starly would grow into a strong flyer, and the other two would be great for sparring, especially for speed and strength-based exercises.

 _They're waiting on an answer, Red,_ The Rival interrupted my thoughts.

"No, it's okay," I gave the trainers my widest smile. "I can wait."

))(())((

Every city in Indigo suffered a reputation. Good or bad, opinions would often vary, though there did exist one common consensus.

Celadon was the fucking worst.

The problem had carried on for a thousand of years, to today from the times before Leonal Oak, before the unification. Back then, most citizens didn't get the chance to live a long, tranquil life; if it weren't because of wild attacks, then it would be because the Water Priests had demanded a life-sacrifice, or because Fuchsia and Saffron had entered another of their endless wars, or because the Vermilion Pirates had landed to vandalize and enslave.

So, what exactly made the Kingdom of Celadon distinguishably the worst among all states, none of them an image of peace of prosperity? What exactly put Celadon's people at the bottom of the barrel, even below the ruthless savages of Vermilion?

Easy answer. It was because while every other kingdom harbored scum, Celadon was the only one that _profited_ out of scum.

Prostitution, gambling, slave trading, smuggling… Every kingdom had banned _at least_ one of these within their walls, but not Celadon; there, so long as it made money, _everything_ was legal. There often existed trade agreements between kingdoms that disallowed stolen goods to be capitalized on within borders, so where did the Vermilion Pirates sail to trade their loot? Celadon. Where did the Fuchsian Khan buy his bedchamber slaves? Celadon. Where did smugglers export valuable Saffronian steel and then retrieve their sum in gold? Celadon. For a price, anything - and anyone - could be bought in old Celadon.

Even the way they had joined Leonal's union had been slimy. Vermilion had been conquered through overwhelming force, Fuchsia had finally fallen after a good twenty years of war, and the Saffronians had only agreed to this alliance once their royal princess had been wedded to Co-Al, First of Leonal's Four, and later the second Champion of the unified new country after Leonal's departure. Meanwhile, Cerulean had seemed to join willingly, before the events which had led to the Drowning of the Water Priests had happened; and the honorable people of Pewter had only joined after Leonal Oak and his army of trainers had saved the kingdom from a wild horde attack. Every one of these kingdoms had in their own way showed some backbone to the Conqueror Oak before eventually bowing… except Celadon.

They had agreed to join immediately without any bloodshed at all, had even offered gold - if only Leonal Oak would allow their merchants to keep their trade rights.

Some say Leonal was too exhausted to think over the deal that had been offered by the Celadonians during the seventh year of the Fuchsian War, some say he was too drunk at the moment. In either case, so long as the Celadonians would pay their taxes, Leonal Oak had accepted their terms, and not once had Celadon City missed or come short on its tribute; in exchange receiving a guaranteed life for its brothels and slave-fairs, even when everywhere else in the state these had been punishable by death.

And today, while a true ban on slavery had later been declared nationally a good two hundred years after Leonal, Celadon City was still the only city in Indigo where gambling and prostitution were legal – and also where a good many illegal goods, like drugs and unlicensed pokeballs, were secretly prepared and distributed to the rest of the nation from. Crime rate was the highest in the country, the police force the least effective, and long was it a tradition that the appointed leaders gave no two damns about their own city.

 _A tradition Erika seems to uphold_ , I thought, sweeping my gaze at the filthy streets while I made my way to Celadon City Gym.

Frankly, despite the silent, depressing atmosphere of the Celadonians' nightly regrets hanging in the morning air – which no doubt would be replaced by evening with the thrill-seeking, hopeless enthusiasm of addicts drawn to the sex and money the city's famous neon ads offered – I felt plenty good myself. The travel underground had been far easier than last time when I was preparing my team to face Surge simply because I hadn't needed to release and train all members of my team simultaneously; and as a result, I hadn't dealt with any infighting.

 _Weeeeeell, except that one time…_ The Rival said.

I scowled. What he was referring to was when I had released Arsenal for training and Pikachu had been present. Arsenal's ambush was still fresh in Pikachu's mind, and he had jumped without warning. It had been a struggle to separate the two; though Arsenal was overall the strongest monster I had, his conductible water-type body was too vulnerable without any supporting items like wacan berries, making the match an even one. If I hadn't put them both to sleep with Callidora's help, I was sure the conflict would end fatally.

That being said, I didn't believe Callidora was comfortable with Arsenal's presence either. She too remembered the assault which had endangered us all, and though she wasn't openly hostile towards him – their cooperation in the tower had grown some mutual respect – I had caught her growling if Arsenal came too close.

Arsenal for his part seemed to ignore the rest of the team and followed my orders and training directions without any protest. _Trainer Lotus trained him good, but not perfect, or they would've won against Blaine – look for his shortcomings,_ The Rival had said, and surprisingly, I had indeed found some. Her bio had already stated that Officer Danielle was an expert of close-combat, and her mastery showed in Arsenal's skills, but I hadn't noticed at what expense before – then again, I hadn't ever had the chance to focus my attention on Arsenal for long. Arsenal's flaw was in his elemental prowess, aside from great control over his aqua-jetting, he had no training in any water-based distance-covering attacks; and with that revelation, it all made sense in my head why he hadn't shot any water-pulses underwater back in Lavender.

And so, the ninjask I had caught was put to use. The evenings underground had been spent with Callidora who still suffered an aiming problem and had a reluctance to use her razor-leaves and Arsenal trying to shoot at the agile ninja pokemon. I had thought Arsenal would object to this simple level of training and would cause problems, but no, as far as I could tell, he was still honoring our deal – I had tracked down Jessie and James, earning his trust I would commit to our bargain that we would see the rockets dead together, and so he followed. I didn't know how long this loyalty would last, I had caught him throwing some stern gazes my way time to time, as if asking when we would stop wasting time and continue our pursuit of vengeance, but so far, he showed nothing too concerning.

 _We'll eventually tell him we've dropped the rocket hunt,_ The Rival had slyly suggested, _but let's wait until we're done with Erika for that – we might need him for the match, who knows!_

I had taken his advice and kept quiet on the subject, instead focusing on preparing Pikachu and Dante for the main match. While Callidora and Arsenal tolerated each other during the evening trainings, these two were more or less at sync at their own trainings during the mornings. I had imagined the first time releasing my charmeleon would be awkward, seeing as the last time was when I had overworked him to the point of collapse, but no, Dante had such a horrid, drug-fueled past of abuse that he didn't even recognize when he had been mistreated: He had emerged the same too-loyal-for-his-own-good self from his pokeball, making me feel somewhat more disgusted by myself but also slightly relieved. Their training had gone better, the only slight difficulty we had encountered was for my tactic to work, it had to be Dante to fill the role of close-combater and Pikachu the supporter, a direct conflict with these pokemon's natural inclinations.

But nevertheless, the nine days spent underground had been enough to overcome these instincts, and I walked into the gym feeling confident of myself. Pikachu and Dante had perfected their combo attack countless times against the poor wild vigoroth, a monster naturally faster than the breloom-cradily duo I was sure Erika would send against me, and if this tactic worked against the vigoroth, then it would definitely work against Erika's monsters.

 _About time,_ The Rival cheerfully intruded my thoughts. _We're really low on resources – feeding nine mouths ain't easy. Let's fucking rob this gym, Re-_

His voice was caught short by the tropical air assaulting my senses all at once.

Firstly, it was _hot_. Far hotter and humid than it ought to be indoors, by the time I had walked to the receptionist I was already dripping wet with sweat. There was also the heavy smell of multiple fragrances mixed making it difficult to breath; papaya and honeysuckle I could recognize, but the others required the nose of a botanist to differentiate. Pikachu didn't even try as he took one sniff within the gym and turned his back immediately to wait outside, the heavy scent a burden to his sensitive nose.

Lastly, there was also the receptionist _._

She was… well, she was breathtakingly beautiful. Her well-tanned skin shone under the gym's artificial lights, putting a special emphasis on her hair gracefully let down her shoulders and further augmenting the exotic aura surrounding her, but her most prominent feature were the eyes: A shade of never seen before blue, I guessed they had to be fake and she was wearing contacts but carried the suspicion her real colors were actually much more captivating, that these contacts were a mask to shield from unwanted attention.

"Good afternoon, trainer," She purred – I suspected she was quite aware of the effect she left on men. "How can I help?"

"Match. Gym match." I stammered, only now realizing I had been holding my breath since I had laid eyes on her. One heavy gulp of air cleared my head quickly – _too quickly_ , I noticed, suspiciously glancing at the burning incense on the counter.

 _I reckon certain pheromones are distilled in this gym,_ The Rival muttered. _Aphrodisiac substances to mess with trainers' minds before the match, and what's burning there suppresses these urges so Mrs. Sexy here doesn't get affected as well. Dirty trick. Keep yourself close to that incense, Red._

"By the sea-beast and waves, Pokemon Trainer Red!" The receptionist's tone held the exact right amount of excitement at the sight of my trainer's license, a perfect mixture of flirtatious intent and genuine impressment – had I not been warned by The Rival, even my stoic self would have fallen for her right there and then.

 _Can't wait till Blue comes here: This is the one gym he'll have trouble with._ The sudden thought almost made me smile, but I was here on business and wouldn't dare show weakness. "When's the soonest you can book a match?" I asked, neither commenting on nor confirming her remark.

"For a trainer as yourself," Her eyes finally left me and fell on the dexscreen hidden behind the counter. "I'm sure Lady Erika wouldn't mind me delaying _some_ of her challengers…"

"Appreciated," I nodded. It seemed my estimation of one week was false and the challenge would be much sooner, an even better outcome than my predictions.

Which was why I was certain I had misheard when she told me she would fit me a match _five months from now._

" _Excuse me_?" I asked, aghast.

"The Lady's gym is blooming with visitors; the tides have been kind lately." She sought calming my increasing temper. "Every day we are blessed with new faces, challengers and trainers, they all-"

"What trainers?" I roared. "What challengers? The gym is _empty_!"

It was not my intention for my voice to carry on as an echo in the lobby, but the effect strengthened my argument and angered me to the point I began believing a conspiracy was afoot.

"Is this a league play?" I asked, suddenly paranoid. "Have the gyms in Indigo received orders to block my growth? Has my fast pace disturbed Lance and his dragons so much he would afoot to such lows?"

"I assure you, Trainer Red, there is no _game_ ," and as she spoke, it was as if a distant bell had rung, but the sweet tune was quickly scattered by her later words, "here. You are free to try your _chances_ -"

 _Again, that noise? What is it?_ I wasn't given time to think for she continued with her useless excuses.

"-at any other gym and see for yourself. Celadon City Gym is truly overwhelmed, and if you wish not to wait for the Lady Erika, then I would recommend Saffron City Gym, only a few days' worth journey to the east." She finished, never looking up from her screen. "I'm sure they will be able to provide you with a sooner challenge."

I frowned. "If your words are true, and I have my doubts, then there must be some other reason for Leader Erika delaying me, because not for one second do I believe this disgrace of a gym in this accursed city is as busy as the likes of Goldenrod. And I know where Saffron lies – I have my reasons to challenge this gym, here and now."

"In that case, Trainer Red, your _now_ will only be available in five months." She smiled, infuriating me to a level I had never experienced – here I was, my plans and timetable about to be in shambles, and the cause, the lowly _secretary_ , had the gall to _smile_.

"I could sue," I threatened. "I have enough renown that my complaints would open an investigation, and the media would wonder why Celadon City Gym forces false time blockades on its challengers."

"And once the investigations would be completed, the only falseness revealed would be your accusations. My words are true, Trainer Red, this gym is indeed booked for many months, but even if they weren't," She blinked slowly, "the trouble you would go through seems hardly worth it when you can receive the fourth badge challenge we offer here just as easily from Saffron, unless…"

"Perhaps, you lack the _funds_ for travel?" And again, a bell rang silently, _annoyingly_ , as she finally lifted her eyes from the screen and fixed their mystifying colors on me. "It is no shame for a freelance trainer, one young and fast to rise especially, to find themselves have _spent_ more than earned."

My anger forced me to ignore the ringing at her word "spent", and The Rival took over instinctively; though courteous he was not, and his manner echoed that of which when we had confronted the beast.

"Excuse me?" I gave a cruel, cold laughter. "A Celadonian lecturing on _money_? Ha! An incompetent lackey of Erika the Loser, Erika the Badge-giver, Erika the Lightweight, compares this back-alley gym with Sabrina's Saffron? Ha! _Just as easily_ , she says," I mockingly imitated the receptionist's words, taunting her. "Cinnabar would be swallowed whole by Lugia before the day Leader Sabrina would be _just as easily_ defeated as your pitiful leader, Erika a Rookie's-First-Timer!"

An anger clouded her face, The Rival had succeeded in some reaction from her. " _Do not_ take the name in vain!" She gritted her teeth.

"Or _what_?" I sneered. "She will finally come out her hiding hole and do battle? Good! That's what I ask! Are more names needed for that outcome? How about 'coward'? Erika the Coward! I finally see why she avoids a match; many have beaten her, but none have had her _humiliated_ , none, like I would!"

"Louder words will not aid you, Trainer Red." The receptionist shook her head. "This gym's program will not change on your _whims_."

Thunder roared as I slammed my hands on the counter, a slight fear capturing her expression as Pikachu blasted the gym doors wide open and blitzed his way next to me. He jumped up the counter, knocking the incense aside, and crouched with his lightning shaped tail erect, his growls seeming more lion than mouse; his fury, _my_ fury, the proof of our hearts tied.

"I will ask one last time," I threatened, both my hands wide open and still on the counter; and Pikachu's fur crackled with loaded charge. "Book me a match within the week – now."

She held her silence, but it was her gaze that disturbed me as her face's features softened with the initial fear passing; her gaze long and shallow, vain, her eyes squinted at their edges, it was not fit an expression for one being held hostage, and I recognized what her eyes offered, and it was not of which I was accustomed to.

 _Pity._ A cruel pity the superior offered the lesser, akin to one an ariados would offer to the butterfree caught in its web; each flap of wings pulling the strands tighter and tighter, each escape attempt sealing its fate closer and closer, and yet blind to the approaching end, any living creature would show pity to the desperate struggles of a victim, and while the ariados would not be exempt from that category, it would not show _mercy_ to its prey, for it too had its own agenda to follow.

And the thought drove me mad – here was not the false ego of The Champion under siege, but my rightful claim; rightful for I had not owned it, but _worked_ for it, not grasped, but _planned_ , and not walked blind, but _studied_. I had followed the steps The Rival had drawn to the summit, had followed the code of trainers old and won my monsters' allegiance, had finally dismissed The Champion's delusion of mastery over destiny and instead embraced The Rival's approach of slowly, methodically working for each small step I took in sight of my goal; not owning, but through will and time _conquering_ destiny, as _champions_ did.

Yet here stood the _smallest_ of obstacles I ever faced, unaware of her insignificance on the path I had chosen, but still facing me as if she knew a hidden ill fate awaiting me and offered only her _pity_ as compensation.

I was, The Rival was, cunning and calculating, difficult to stir compared to The Champion, but she had managed. And the growls of Pikachu grew proportional to my fury, and the flash of his fur lit to a brightness only comparable to lightn-

"Enough."

Hope rose within me at the voice of challenge radiating from behind: Had I caused a disturbance enough that Erika herself had come to investigate? But no, I turned to realize it was not the leader herself but more of her lackeys that had entered the scene, two women: Two gym-aides.

"Trainer Red, we have to ask you to leave or concede to the gym's terms for a challenge."

Two pokeballs were thrown to emphasize the threat. From the taller, more athletic aide with cropped hair's hand emerged a beast similar to Pikachu, except this one was covered in white fur, larger, and had longer ears. The twin claws on each hand also distinguished this monster from my starter, adding a wilder appearance, but still, his threat level was dwarfed by the menacing aura the second beast emitted: A bat capable of abducting a grown man up high to the skies; the dark wings folded behind its back sides added an illusion of increased mass to its already formidable shape. The ears dominating its face of vampiric features twitched my direction, and the monster's jaw dropped, revealing a set of fangs as sharp as the claws of the monster to its side.

 _The cat-ferret and sound-wave pokemon._

"Trainer Red…" The noivern's master warned; she was a woman of short stature yet her broad shoulders revealed she was no stranger to exercise. I paid her no mind however and continued my step towards them, Pikachu on my side, his fur still wildly cackling. I walked, walked, and walked until I was so up close to them I could count the hairs on the zangoose's fur, notice how the trainers' fists were clenched and eyes were worried, caught a single bead of sweat dripping from the taller trainer's forehead, and understood though they held capable beasts, these were not battlers, and with that knowledge I quickened my pace and… kept walking until I passed the duo and made way to the doors.

The audible sound of a relieved sigh did not miss my attention as I chose to exit the gym.

"The only reason I'm not taking you both down," I declared before leaving, "is because, at the very least, you've successfully convinced me of Erika's embarrassingly passive presence in this supposed house of battles. Had I been certain our tussling would draw the Nature-Loving Princess out, be sure," I threatened. "Be sure, you would have regretted drawing on Pokemon Trainer Red."

 _Great. We showed them._ The Rival commented once we took our step out, and though his voice sounded pleased, there was a strain in it, the hints of a collected and unresolved anger. _But now… Now what, Red?_

I sighed and confessed. "I don't know. I'll figure something out. I always do. I won't let _bureaucracy_ of all things win against me – I'm Pokemon Trainer Red." I repeated the words, strengthening my resolve and drawing power from them.

"I'm Pokemon Trainer Red: I don't _surrender_."

))(())((

One by one, the neon signs came to life under the darkening sky, basking me in a sunken glory of artificial colors. No other lights could represent the offered product this exact as these glass tubes; the red, blue, and bright-pink spotlights reeked cheap and sleazy entertainment, and the signs put their promises of disappointing hopes in flashing words, words which were once worshiped as gods by the merchants of Celadon more than a thousand years ago. Here it was where the Unown supposedly first emerged in Kanto and taught humanity of written word, and here it was where humanity saw it best fit to keep track of their slaves' numbers and measure their piled gold.

No wonder the Unown had not been seen since.

I wandered aimlessly amidst the lively crowd. Had my spirits been higher, I could have remarked upon the workers of this street and their visitors; the women and men in all shapes and sizes dressed in tight, revealing clothes, catcalling and chatting up potential customers, particularly those dressed rich and well. Executives from many successful businesses had come down from their offices atop Saffron's high skyscrapers for a weekend getaway, and teenagers nervously grouped near the various brothels lined up one after another, excited for perhaps what would be a first-time experience for most.

Pikachu found it particularly hard to navigate this street, and I didn't blame him. The flashing lights were disturbing distractions, the reek of cheap liquor and human sweat abused his olfactory senses, and the blasting music forced his ears to a flattened position. The fact that he had seriously considered before refusing my pokeball suggestion showed how uncomfortable he truly was, but what could I really do? It wasn't like there was a quiet and calm hotel room we could return to; The Champion had seen to that.

I gritted my teeth in frustration, all my current problems had stemmed from the decisions he had made between Arsenal's attack and Paul's death. If I hadn't spent so much on luxury hotels and treatments for injuries of my own fault, Surge's reward money would still last for both a single night's room in Celadon and a journey to Saffron. With only limited cash, my entire plan had counted on a quick win from Erika, enough for me to feed the five new mouths I had added to the team and also for future resources and journeys, but now…

 _I'm stuck._

Waiting on Erika for five months was out of the picture and travelling further to Saffron was impossible, the wild between Celadon and Saffron was meek and didn't offer any resources me and my team could live off on. I could sell my newer recruits here for some easy money like I had sold the poochyena in Vermilion, but even if that trivial amount of money would help make the journey to Saffron, it wouldn't last the minimum three weeks long wait time of Saffron City Gym, a waiting time I had wished to avoid by challenging Erika's normally less full gym first.

 _I've been over all these points before,_ I thought grimly. _The best way forward was the soonest win possible from Erika. Now, however…_

I sighed. It looked like I would have to take up a short-term job, at least until I could make enough for a Saffron Gym Challenge.

 _And how long will that take?_ The Rival asked, impatient.

"Depends on the job. An escorting one would pretty much set us for good, but those last at least half a year long, more if it's a delivery from Kanto to Johto. The IPF, military, and RO don't do short term recruits, so the only job left for a trainer is… I don't know, a bodyguard? Bouncer? There might be some clubs in this city that have the need," I hopelessly rambled.

 _Every suggestion seems like it would take too much time not spent on training,_ The Rival dismissed my thoughts. _We can't afford that – there's already less than two and a half years left for the championship, and we're still five badges short. Those won't do, Red. Find a better idea._

"…We can enter the local tournaments," I suggested. "Those pay smalltime, but maybe if we back it up with some illegal battling, entering some underground tournaments, maybe-"

 _Game._

"Watch it!" The woman I stumbled into warned, but in my hurry, I left her quickly behind.

"Was that you?" I asked The Rival, mesmerized.

 _What?_ His voice was puzzled.

"No, it's just, I-"

Suddenly, I surprised myself by taking a sharp turn. Cutting through the crowd as quick as possible, Pikachu barely caught up with me as I slipped through a narrow street between two brothels.

 _Chance._

A few minutes' walk later, I was lost in the back alleys of Celadon, but my legs were apparently quite familiar with these streets where the homeless and beggars made home. Further and further I strolled from Caledon's main square, and more and more shadier figures crossed my path, greedily eyeing my, well, my _everything_ , my bag, jacket, belt, shirt… Here and there a few daring ones flashed the blade of a knife, but these crude weapons they could afford were of a bygone age, and Pikachu's crackling fur kept any attempters away – even these poor folks knew lightning beat steel.

 _Funds._

And so, as I walked, these people only huddled closer to each other and kept to the shadows, a long dead curiosity reignited in their milky eyes at why one of the "well off" as myself would delve this far into the best-kept-away-parts of town. The dealers and users scrammed as I approached, was I a cop, dressed so well in a jacket without any patches on? The beggars threw mixed gazes of hate and envy at Pikachu's body radiating with health, was I only here to show off how I could afford to take care of a pet when they were alone, disease ridden, and starving?

If only I had an answer, _any_ answer to why I was here.

 _Spend._

I finally stopped.

My side trip had led me to a crooked door barely hanging to its hinges, above which read in gloomy red lights "Lucky Egg Casino". I took a step back to examine my surroundings; as far as I could tell, I had left the seedier streets behind and was now in a relatively cleaner neighborhood, one not as showy and flamboyant as the tourist attraction Celadon's main square was, but instead a local hangout for those with lesser income. A line of gambling houses dominated the sidewalk, the Lucky Egg was followed by the Bunnelby's Foot, Ekans Eyes, and Rapidash Shoe, a faint sound of music from these places barely audible from the street, but curiously enough, my attention always shifted back to the Lucky Egg.

 _I… I might as well… enter?_

Before the thought was even finished I had stepped through that terribly unbalanced door. The smell of watered down alcohol and cheap cigarettes were the first to greet me, and the noise of rolling dice followed shortly after. The casino was surprisingly large, at one end were empty tables awaiting enough players for the cards to be dealt, at the other lines and lines of slot machines were spun by only a few elderly occupants. The lighting seemed a bit dull for a place of supposed enjoyment and risk, but otherwise, there really was nothing which distinguished the Lucky Egg from any other establishment of the sorts, which did nothing to explain the overwhelming need I had felt to enter this plac-

Glass shattered.

And thunder followed.

"Ugh!"

The flying slot machine missed _barely_ , Pikachu's lightning had done good in disrupting my assaulter's aim. The panicked screams from behind warned me of another round: I threw myself on instinct as two of the machines flew hitting the wall across, one broke immediately while the other somehow got _stuck_.

But there was no time to study this phenomenon further, not when what I needed was cover _._

From the ground, I clicked my tongue twice, and Pikachu sent bolt after bolt. Rapid and successive fire was my aim here, not damage, and an annoyed, deep grunt from behind encouraged me enough to make a run to the tables.

"IGNORE THE RAT AND HIT HIM YOU OAF, HIT HIM!"

 _That's a trainer. A trainer's attacking me,_ I thought the split second I was allowed as the sound of metal snapping echoed – another volley was afoot.

"Make him drop it!" I hissed through my breath and dove, sliding under the sturdy poker table in the nick of time. A roar of pain proved Pikachu's aim had been true, but the whizz of air assured it had not been enough. Wood and metal groaned; luckily, they held strong and the table did not break: Pikachu's attack had limited the force behind the throw, allowing me the time to crawl under and out to the other side, turn, and finally face the cowardly enemy launching its barrage only from behind.

The sight made me reconsider my initial notion of _cowardly_.

The monster could be mistaken for human, a very, very, _very_ tall one; except humans did not have rock-hard, bluish gray skin.

Or a crown of three parallel steel ridges running from the top of its head to in between a pair of red eyes.

Or fucking _four_ arms.

 _The superpower pokemon._

"Hit him!" A voice behind the lines of slot machines cried, and three of the muscular arms ripped another of the devices free from its fastened hold to the ground. The last remaining customers ran out in fear, and Pikachu, positioned midway between the fighting pokemon and myself, sent a new bolt, aiming to interrupt the projectile, but machamp were somewhat tough against elemental attacks; the electric surge rushed through the air, splintering and hitting the monster at multiple points, only for the rough hide to sizzle and burn lightly.

Undisturbed by the thunder, with a grunt the arms threw their load, and I answered in kind. The rectangular machine broke in half contacting the tough shell of Arsenal, and the machamp's disappointed cry met the wartortle's challenging roar.

"Back!" I ordered Pikachu quickly. Begrudgingly, he obeyed and circled widely around Arsenal back to me. He jumped up the poker table I had covered under, and with that, it was us who now held the advantage: Arsenal could tank any distance attack from the machamp, and if the fighting type came close, with the help of Pikachu's supportive fire, the wartortle could make an even fight.

However, there was one flaw in this team order, namely, Arsenal and Pikachu's hesitance with each other - and it showed. Though his feet were firmly planted in a defensive position up front, Arsenal's ears twitched nervously, as if he expected a treacherous strike from behind by Pikachu, and Pikachu's tail gleefully switching aim between him and the machamp didn't help reassure his doubts.

"Easy," I muttered towards my starter. "You don't cooperate, we die."

Clearing my throat, I then yelled across the other side of the room, to the yet invisible trainer. If possible, I would like to escape this situation without it coming to a potentially fatal fight.

"Are we done?"

No answer, except now the machamp stood still and kept his four arms open wide – completely blocking the exit, I noticed grimly.

"Because I don't know what sort of crazy you are," I shouted. "But I'm _not_ looking for trouble. I'm willing to overlook this – just recall your machamp and keep it tucked until I leave these doors, and no one will speak of this again. If you don't though, I'm warning you," I threatened. "One way or another, I'm leaving. I would just rather not step over a dead machamp as I do."

A short silence followed, interrupted by a nervous voice. "You expect me to believe, _you_ , Trainer Red, came here on _coincidence_?"

Finally, a response. And seemingly, the attacker knew me, and from his tone, I guessed battling me wasn't something he indulged in willingly. _I can work with this,_ I thought.

"Arceus, I don't even know where _here_ is," I confessed. "I'm just another tourist lost in this fucking city and was hoping for some directions, that's all."

"…We know you're a schemer and liar, Trainer Red," The voice shouted back, though it didn't seem that sure.

 _We?_ The Rival emerged, picking up on the detail. _Who is we?_

 _Not now; but keep listening. He might slip some more._

"In BATTLE, you moron, I'm a schemer and liar in battle, against gym leaders and such – not in real fucking life!" I tried convincing the voice while The Rival analyzed the situation. _Sounds male, possibly late twenties or is early developed, maybe as young as twenty._

No response came, but I swore I could hear the sound of heavy breathing across the room accelerating.

"Look," I tried a new angle when the silence prolonged. "You obviously know me, but I don't know you, haven't even seen you…"

 _Machamp's very responsive: Its first attack came without a vocal command and is now guarding the exit without being told. Machop starter? Given the age of evolution, the trainer then should be about thirty to forty, unlikely to match the voice. No, not a starter. Just extremely well trained._

"If this was personal, we wouldn't be discussing this, you would be charging right now," I suggested. "But you're not, so that makes me guess you have another goal, one I'm not curious about. I have seen nothing and know nothing that can bring you future harm, but if we fight here, and if I get _killed_ over it, well, that's going to bring the Celadon Police Force over when a few thrown slots in a casino would not – I came here from just scheduling a match at the gym, people will bound to be suspicious if I don't show up, and I left a lot of witnesses behind seeing me enter here…"

The last statement was an utter lie, but it seemed to work as the now seriously considering voice of my enemy asked, "You… will leave? Just like that?"

"Just like that, man. This was just a misunderstanding, nothing else." _He really doesn't want to fight,_ The Rival deduced, _or-_

"It seems I acted… rashly." The sound of a pokeball clicking free from its belt was heard, and my hopes rose. "We recall both our mons the same time, then you _leave_. Deal?"

"Deal." I answered. "On three. One, two-"

Suddenly, with a terrible, _terrible_ grinding sound, the previously stuck to the wall slot machine broke free, revealing the hidden staircase behind.

And I understood it was over.

"Ah," The voice said, disappointed. "You weren't supposed to see that. No one sees that. Boss' orders."

He stepped into my line of sight, and I groaned.

Tall, muscular, and blonde, he was wearing a red vest with the logo of the Lucky Egg, most likely a worker of the casino. But what struck me was the likeness he shared with the culprits behind Nolan's murder and the S.S. Anne, with the brothers Butch and Duke.

 _NO! We were done!_ The Rival screamed, frustrated. _We were done with them!_

 _Apparently, they're not done with us._

"Rocke-" I swallowed the end of my greeting when I noticed Arsenal's tail flicker: The last thing I needed was the wartortle going on a rampage at the word.

"You caused a lot of trouble, Trainer Red." His machamp stepped forwards with him, still completely blocking the exit, as he placed his hand near his pokebelt. My eyeballs bulged at the sight of a _second_ pokeball.

"I'm happy you'll finally meet your end."

And after a bloodthirsty war cry, _both_ machamp began charging.

"RUN!"

My pokemon growled disobediently - though the odds impossible, neither were the type to run from battle.

 _Maybe you weren't clear enough…_

 _Then let me rephrase._

"We're not _fleeing_ ,you idiots!" I yelled as I zigzagged between the tables. "We're _repositioning!_ "

After the confirmation, in a second, Pikachu was next to me, and with a deafening _boom_ , Arsenal aqua-jetted his way through the tables, running just behind me in case the machamp reverted back to throwing again.

"CATCH THEM!" I heard behind me the rocket cry worriedly, but it was no use, machamp were just too slow, and with us being closer, they couldn't prevent us from reaching the staircase our pursuers had been so worried would remain secret.

I allowed Arsenal in first then followed, leaving Pikachu last. As I suspected, like the tower in Lavender, the walls were too narrow for any one of us to stand side by side, but that meant neither would the machamp be able to. In fact, I wasn't even sure if they would fit at all, but when I risked a look back I saw one of them just about to enter, arms bent at awkward angles, face contorted with fury.

 _Whatever is down here, they really don't want anyone to find out,_ The Rival muttered. _Which reminds me, we don't know what's there either. Why are we going down again?_

 _We could never win up there. I could release my full team and in the open space, the two machamp would rip us apart. Here their mobility is restricted – and it allows me to do this._

"Alright, enough," I whispered to Arsenal, and he stopped the water he had been secretly spraying on the walls and stairs as we passed them. I allowed a few steps' distance just to be sure we would be absolutely safe, then turned.

"Now."

Pikachu didn't send lightning – he simply stepped in the puddle left behind on the stairs.

And the smell of burning meat stank the air.

The change of tone in the roar of the machamp directly behind us was unbelievable, inhuman. Within seconds, the cry shifted from light pain to unending suffering and finally to pleading mercy, which of course, never came. Unlike pinpointed lightning, the electrical shocks were _everywhere_ , never stopping, _always_ present. The cramped setting did not allow the machamp's arms to avoid contact with the wet walls and escape their fate, as the planted feet now trembling could never remove themselves off ground. The fighting pokemon couldn't even drop dead, melted flesh had stuck to the walls leaving a corpse similar to a melting statue made of wax behind, a distorted expression of disturbing agony forever etched on the monster's face.

I briefly saw a pokeball's red light hitting the one behind – no doubt understanding the trap I had set, the rocket upstairs would not dare come after me. The smarter strategy would be to camp and wait upstairs, which would once again leave me out in the open, against an opponent with I didn't know how many strong mons hidden.

 _Looks like there's no place left to go but down,_ The Rival said, _and hope there's another exit_.

"Looks like it," I agreed and motioned my pokemon to move. "How… how are you taking all this? I know we wanted to drop this rocket chase behind but-"

 _Mew fucking dammit._

Arsenal had heard me.

The shell burst ahead at a speed impossible to catch. His bestial cunning had put the clues together: Upstairs, the man we had dealt with was a rocket. _This_ was a rocket den. And so, the further we delved in, the more chance was there of encountering one.

This was his paradise. This was his vengeance.

Nothing could stop him.

"Mew dammit," I repeated, watching him disappear. "Mew fucking dammit."

Pikachu growled between my legs.

I stared at him crossly. "No, _don't_ kill him – and yes, we _have_ to follow him. In any case," I looked up, "it's not like we have another choice-"

 _Boom._

 _Boom. Boom. Boom._

The sound of body clashing against body rose.

 _Looks like Arsenal found some targets,_ The Rival muttered.

Sighing, I rushed down the stairs, Pikachu just on my trail.

And on the final step, I slipped on blood and guts.

I didn't even stop Pikachu as he completely lost control and let loose a barrage of thunder, I was disturbingly mesmerized by the horror show in front of me.

The staircase had led to a small, well-lighted underground bunker, where on one side were caged pokemon piled up, mewling and crying out in fear. The other side was stacked with cash, heaps of bills and coins organized in huge bulks.

But it was the middle of the room which drew my attention.

"Yes, yes, just bring it here," The man muttered to himself undisturbed by Arsenal's constant pounding at the invisible shield separating the staircase from the room and Pikachu's thunder dissipating against it, and on his orders, a crouched, hunchback pokemon with a perpetual frown grasped at one of the cages. With a rattle, the pile collapsed on itself and the beasts within cried out in pain, but none louder than the skitty trapped in the one the barrier pokemon now dragged to the middle.

"Over here is fine," he muttered as he swept the counter in front of him clean, and my stomach twisted as I saw the carcasses dropping. The Mr. mime struggled lifting the cage up, then wiggled a finger, and suddenly the cage's door opened. The skitty mewled its first free cries - until the man _cut off its head with a butcher's knife._

Arsenal's roars were only outclassed by the lightning Pikachu sent as the duo increased their attacks with newfound vigor against the barrier.

"Hurry, hurry." A surgical knife cut the skitty open as gloved hands operated within, digging out some organs and emptying them into the large suitcase placed under the counter. He paused for a moment to wipe the sweat on his forehead, leaving a bloody mark, and addressed the Mr. mime again, pushing the dead body off the counter to the floor, its still running blood adding to the large puddle.

"We can't waste _any_ resources now, can we?"

And the hunchback Mr. mime walked back to the pile of cages - _again_.

"NO!"

This, this was too much, this _butchery_ would not stand. Arsenal's pounding and Pikachu's lightning were shortly joined by the released Dante and Callidora's flames and vines. It had taken them less than a second to adjust, and at the sight all past animosities were put aside – no pokemon would allow _this_.

Neither would I.

"Aaaargh!"

With a cry, I too pushed against the barrier, giving it my all as the horrendous acts continued before me, as this, this _monster_ cold-heartedly picked away at the pokemon brought forth. My punches bounced back when he cut off the cleffa's heart, Dante's flames licked helplessly when the groping fingers pulled out the igglypuff's tongue. Pikachu's lightning cracked like a whip while the nidoran was skinned alive, Arsenal bashed his head bloody while the unfamiliar to me pink, spherical pokemon's blood was drained.

But it wasn't until a power whip combined of eight vines hit and cracked the air in front of us that the _butcher_ took notice.

"Oh, my." He rubbed his chin, his eyes lingering on the caged eevee. "Looks like time is up. Better get packing…"

 _He's about to get away!_ I raged inwardly when I saw him pick up his pokeballs. _He's about to escape!_

 _Let him._

The cold thought almost made my knees buckle.

 _Wha-_

 _Let him! He's no concern of ours!_ The Rival repeated. _This has nothing to do with us. Let's just focus on getting out, we're not the police or anything. Let him leave!_

I blinked amidst the fire and thunder, unable to comprehend.

 _Renewing our fight with the rockets brings us nothing. It's one thing if it's self-defense, and another if we actively pursue. This carnage lessens us; recall our team, wait for the rockets to clear house, and then exit so we can decide on our next course of action, Saffron or somewhere else!_

 _I-I, no one can allow this, this is-_

"Well, Trainer Red!" The rocket interrupted my argument with The Rival, addressing me directly for the first time, the calm in his voice never wavering despite the number of cracks increasing - only a few minutes remained before the protective screen separating us broke.

"I cannot say it has been pleasant!" He yelled to make his voice overheard over the beasts' cries. "I'd much rather this place wasn't made! But, alas, good things cannot last forever…"

He sent a broken smile my way before he threw his pokeballs… _before the barrier broke._

"Aresenal, NO!"

But consumed by his vengeance, poisoned by the thought of the rockets, he heeded my warning not as he burst into the bunker, jaw snapping, ready to behead his target.

Right in the middle of five _electrodes._

"When they ask who sent you at the other side," He smiled and stepped into the released shiftry's shadow engulfing both the money and the case of harvested organs. "Be sure to give the name Proton."

With a crooked bow, he disappeared from sight.

And the electrodes detonated.

))(())((

"Mister? Sir?"

 _I'm alive?_

"Mister, sir, can you hear me?"

 _I'm alive…_

"Sir, it's urgent you hear me, sir, before the coppers show, please sir…"

 _I'm alive!_

… _How?_

"I don't know," the voice answered, and I realized I had asked the question aloud. "I don't know, but you can hear me, yes, sir?"

"I-I, I, yes," I muttered. Everything was slowly coming back, the explosion, the brief millisecond I had to encase those closest to me. Dante and Callidora I had captured in the ball, of that I was certain, and Pikachu I too remembered, but Arsenal…

 _Arsenal_. And the collapsing stone and brick, dust enough to choke a salamence, buried under concrete, but yet…

Yet never feeling the crushing pressure. Never feeling the bones snap and organs burst.

Only the lack of _air_ , in that limited, closed space, in that tomb of debris, I had-

 _Cold._

I abruptly stood up, shivering.

"Where am I?"

My question was answered by the soft crackling of a fire ongoing, police sirens, and the chatter of people. I peeked from the alley I had somehow been dragged to at the burning lines of casinos and gaping chasm where the Lucky Egg once stood.

"Impossible," I muttered to myself, examining my body. Not a wound was to be seen, not a single bruise was visible, nothing but the sensation I had been dipped into the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean, a cold wetness I had trouble shaking myself from. "How?"

"As I said, I do not know…"

I turned to face the answering voice: A toothless elder, a homeless, clothed in filth.

"I was only told to give you this, mister." He trembled as he spoke. "And tell you, mister, that _you earned it._ "

And he handed me a shining metal token, shaped a flower with all the existing colors as its petals.

How quickly my rage warmed me.

How quickly the elder ran when I released my monsters, Pikachu, Callidora, and Dante; the first almost crazed once again by his entrapment.

But today, I would not have it.

Today, my anger would overshadow his discomfort.

 _Today, the trainer's requests take precedence._

"Are you fit for battle?" I spat, dropping the object in my hands to the streets of Celadon.

Like me, they had no wounds. Risking further luck, I clicked on Arsenal's pokeball, hoping against hope, daring my fate.

But of course, reality prevailed, as it always did, and the click revealed nothing, the red light materialized into _nothing_.

A silence followed as my eyes fixed on the abyss where the Lucky Egg once was.

 _She will pay._

"She will," I agreed, stepping on the Rainbow Badge. " _She will._ "

))(())((

 **Author's Note:**

 **Some questions, some lore, and major buildup. Just gonna add the next chapter will be up very very soon since I wrote these two together. By now you all probably know I suck at estimates, but I think an update by the weekend is quite possible.**

 **Also, wow, one year has passed since I began The Summit. About a 190k words in a time of 374 days, and I'm still as passionate about this project since Day 1: All thanks to you.**

 **I know the story of Red and Blue has been told dozens. I know our beloved gen1 protagonists pale in the light of some incredible original and newer-gen main characters. I know Kanto and Johto has grown tiring when Kalos and Alola and all sorts of new regions are ever emerging, and I know my more realistic approach to these worlds has been done plenty by far more talented fanfic authors than myself. I know this fic isn't the top story in its genre, but you know what? The story isn't, but you readers are certainly the number one fans in my eyes.**

 **Thank you, really, for sticking with me so far. Thank you for all those who gave this slow-burn, goofy-cartoon-cover pictured (I swear there's a story behind that cover!), and generically summarized fic a chance. Thank you for the respectful and insightful commentary dropped – I've tried replying to them all, and if I've missed some, do accept here my public apology.**

 **I can't promise you'll keep enjoying the story. I can promise this fic will NEVER be discontinued (excluding life endangering circumstances of course, lol).**

 **Here's to another year, when hopefully, if my timetable holds, The Summit will be finished.**

 **Cheers, and thank you** **.**


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